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ISTANBUL – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that his country would ignore the sanctions the US has introduced against Iran this week – a defiant tone that could complicate Ankara's recent efforts to defuse tensions with Washington .
Erdogan criticized the Trump administration, saying US sanctions could disrupt the global order.
"We do not want to live in an imperialist world," Erdogan told reporters after a meeting with legislators from his ruling party, the Justice and Development Party. "We will absolutely not respect such sanctions."
Without vital imports of natural gas from Iran, he said, Turkey could not spend the winter.
"We can not let our people freeze in the cold," said the Turkish president.
Erdogan's sides contrasted with nearly four weeks of diplomatic bullshit exchanged between Ankara and Washington after the release of US pastor Andrew Brunson by Turkey last month.
While the pastor's release put an end to a prolonged diplomatic stalemate, MM. Trump and Erdogan, who are expected to meet at the commemoration of the centenary of the First World War in France this weekend, still face many hot spots, ranging from the strategic divergence on Syria to the purchase of A Russian balloon to Turkey. missile system.
US officials have complained that they call the "wrongful detention" by Turkey of another US citizen and three local employees of his consular representations. Turkish officials said they expect more support from the United States to force Saudi Arabia to give the truth about the sponsor of the murder of a Saudi journalist in Istanbul last month .
Last week, as part of the bilateral warm-up, the United States lifted the sanctions imposed in August against two members of the Turkish government, because of Ankara's refusal to release Mr. Brunson. Turkey lifted the similar sanctions it had imposed in retaliation.
And on Monday, the United States put Turkey on a list of eight countries to which they granted exemptions, thus exempting them from the new sanctions imposed on Iranian oil.
Erdogan did not mention the exemption in Tuesday's comments. In Ankara, officials said the waiver was not part of a quid pro quo. Instead, they say that means they have been able to convince their American counterparts that sanctions would undermine peace and stability in the Middle East.
"We explained this reality in discussions with US officials," Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said over the weekend after being informed of the US waiver decision. . "It is now understood that what we said during these talks was accepted at one point," he said, according to the official Turkish news agency Anadolu.
Turkey imports about half of its oil and one-fifth of its gas needs from Iran. Unlike oil, which can be sourced from a multitude of suppliers by tankers, Iranian gas is delivered to Turkey through pipelines and contracts lasting for several decades.
US authorities have cited this infrastructure constraint as the main reason for granting a waiver to Turkey, noting that Washington feared that the Turkish authorities would try to convert any gas shortage into anti-American sentiment.
Ankara, however, wonders what will happen to the non-energy part of its annual $ 12 billion bilateral trade with Iran, which is not covered by the waiver and banned by the new sanctions.
Despite Erdogan's instruction not to fully respect the sanctions, Turkish business leaders are divided between the desire to pursue a lucrative trade with Tehran and the fear of being trapped by Americans.
Although Turkish officials have said expect clemency from the United States in the case of a Turkish lender
Halkbank
,
US authorities suspect the bank will help Iran escape a previous round of sanctions and face heavy fines. The bank denied violating the sanctions imposed by the United States.
"We have trade relations with Iran and it is impossible to cut this link immediately," said Umit Kiler, chairman of the Iran-Turkey Business Council in Istanbul. "But we take seriously the American warning."
