International media reports say U.S. President Donald Trump said on October 14 that he is prepared to “swiftly destroy” Turkey's economy with sanctions if it continues its attack against US-allied Kurds in northeastern Syria.
"I am fully prepared to swiftly destroy Turkey's economy if Turkish leaders continue down this dangerous and destructive path," Trump said in his statement, shortly before signing an executive order to impose penalties, according to CNN.
If Turkey doesn't stop its attack immediately, more sanctions will be coming, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly said in his own statement.
In Monday's statement, the President said he would impose sanctions against current and former Turkish officials involved in the Syrian operation, raise steel tariffs back to the 50% levels he'd imposed earlier this year and "immediately" stop trade negotiations with Ankara.
But US government figures show that Turkish steel imports have fallen 76% since 2018 — there's relatively little steel left to sanction.
The last time the Trump administration sanctioned Turkish officials, in August 2018, the people in question had little to no exposure to the US financial system, experts said.
CNN notes that the president's statement made no mention of halting US arms sales to Turkey.
Meanwhile, France, Germany, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands have reportedly announced they will suspend arms sales to Turkey.
