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Turkish president dares U.S. to impose economic sanctions

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Turkish Presidency

FILE - In this Aug. 19, 2020 file photo, Frence ambassador to Turkey Herve Magro, left, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for photographs after the new ambassador presented his letter of credentials, in Ankara, Turkey. France recalled its ambassador to Turkey for consultations after Erdogan said Saturday, Oct. 24 French President Emmanuel Macron needed mental health treatment and made other comments that the French government described as unacceptably rude.(Turkish Presidency via AP, Pool)

ANKARA ā€“ Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan challenged the United States to impose sanctions against his country while also launching a second personal attack Sunday on French President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking a day after he suggested Macron needed mental health treatment because of his views on Islam and radical Muslims, Erdogan expanded his range to take aim at foreign critics.

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ā€œWhatever your sanctions are, donā€™t be late,ā€ Erdogan said, referring to U.S. warnings for Turkey not to get directly involved in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, where Ankara supports Azerbaijan against ethnic Armenian forces.

The Turkish leader also mentioned Washingtonā€™s threat of sanctions after Turkey tested the Russian-made S-400 air defense system. The purchase has already seen Turkey kicked off the F-35 stealth fighter program.

ā€œWe stepped in for the F-35, you threatened us,ā€ Erdogan told a televised ruling party congress in the eastern city of Malatya. ā€œYou said, ā€˜Send the S-400s back to Russia.ā€™ We are not a tribal state. We are Turkey.ā€

The dispute over the S-400s, which NATO says pose a threat to the military alliance and particularly endanger the technical secrets of the F-35, is among a number of recent disputes between Turkey and some of its NATO allies.

These include gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean that has threatened a confrontation with Greece, as well as Turkey's stance in Syria, where it has targeted Americaā€™s Kurdish allies.

For months, the U.S. warned Ankara that it risked sanctions under the Countering Americaā€™s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act if the S-400 system were activated. President Donald Trump, however, has held back on implementing the sanctions amid hopes Erdogan will not go ahead with activating the missiles.

Erdogan also returned to personal insults of Macron, who has been a vocal critic of Turkish foreign policy in recent months.

ā€œThe person in charge of France has lost his way,ā€ Erdogan said. ā€œHe goes on about Erdogan while in bed and while awake. Look at yourself first and where youā€™re going. I said yesterday in Kayseri, he is a case and he really must be examined.ā€

Erdogan also turned his ire to Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders, whose tweet describing Erdogan as a ā€œterroristā€ was given prominence by several senior members of Turkeyā€™s government and ruling party on Sunday.

The president said Turks had been made ā€œtargets for uncovering rising racism in Europe.ā€

He added: ā€œFascism is not in our book, it is in your book. Nazism happened in your countries.ā€

Three years ago, Erdogan sparked controversy when he called the Dutch government ā€œNazi remnants and fascistsā€ over blocks on campaigning among the Netherlandsā€™ Turkish diaspora ahead of a Turkish referendum on enlarging his powers.


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