Biden Removes Turkey References From Syria Sanctions EO
President Joe Biden this week removed references to Turkey from a 2019 executive order that authorizes certain sanctions against Syria. The order had partly authorized certain sanctions against people and entities associated with “recent actions by the Government of Turkey to conduct a military offensive into northeast Syria,” including former or current government officials and companies operating in certain sectors of the Turkish economy.
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The changes make “minimal edits” to the order “in light of the fact that certain operations referenced in that order ceased 5 years ago,” Biden said in a message to Congress. Under the amended order, the U.S. still can “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 announcement comes about a month after the Dec. 8 collapse of Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime, which had faced strict financial sanctions. The Treasury Department earlier this month issued a new license authorizing certain government, energy and personal remittance-related transactions with Syria (see 2501060034).