Outgoing US President Joe Biden has either eased or removed some sanctions imposed on Turkey by the US government in 2019 following a Turkish military operation against Kurdish militants groups in northern Syria, citing the “changing circumstances on the ground” in the country.
On January 15, Biden issued amendments to Executive Order 13894 of October 14, 2019, which concerns blocking property and suspending the entry of certain persons contributing to the situation in Syria in the wake of the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by an alliance of rebel forces in Syria last month.
Sanctions had been imposed on Turkey due to its launch of a military operation, called “Operation Peace Spring” against the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria in October 2019.
Turkey views the SDF and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) as terrorist groups and offshoots of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging a bloody war in the country’s southeast since 1984 and is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
In response to its offensive, the US imposed sanctions on the Turkish defense, energy and interior ministries and three senior government officials, then-Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, then-Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez and then-Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu. The move froze their assets in the US and banned transactions with them that involved the US financial system.
The US government accused the Turkish government of endangering innocent civilians and destabilizing the region, including undermining the campaign to defeat Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The SDF has been a key US ally in combating ISIL and is backed by the US with weapons and training.
The amended order makes minor changes to reflect the fact that certain operations referred to in the original order have ceased; the original order refers to “recent actions” by the Turkish government in Syria. The “Operation Peace Spring” offensive was terminated in 2019.
Under the amended order, the United States may still sanction any person determined to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly engaged in, or attempted to engage in actions or policies that further threaten the peace, security, stability or territorial integrity of Syria or the commission of serious human rights abuse.
The Turkish operation in northern Syria in 2019, which aimed to push the SDF forces from the border region, took place shortly after then-US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria, which some said gave Turkey a “green light” for a military action in the region.