Proposed language on Turkey sanctions in defense of what Congressional lawmakers call US hostages was dropped from a draft $1.3 trillion federal spending bill that was released to the public yesterday.
The move comes amid a concerted push by the State Department to assuage Turkey, a critical NATO ally, over the United States’ continued support for Syrian Kurdish militants labelled terrorists by Ankara. The State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, which handles relations with Turkey, is believed to have played a major part in persuading Congress to shelve proposed sanctions against Turkish officials deemed to have been responsible for what the Donald Trump administration terms the unlawful detention of US nationals and Turkish citizens employed by the US consulates in Istanbul and Adana.
