Turkey Does Not Expect US Sanctions Under Biden

FILE PHOTO: Then US Vice President Joe Biden (L) attends a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Washington March 31, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Then US Vice President Joe Biden (L) attends a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Washington March 31, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
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Turkey Does Not Expect US Sanctions Under Biden

FILE PHOTO: Then US Vice President Joe Biden (L) attends a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Washington March 31, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Then US Vice President Joe Biden (L) attends a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Washington March 31, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

Turkey does not expect ties with the United States to be strained under President-elect Joe Biden and does not anticipate sanctions over its purchase of Russia S-400 defense systems, a senior official in President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party revealed.

Relations have been tense between Ankara and Washington over issues from policy toward Syria to the US refusal to extradite a cleric Turkey blames for a 2016 coup attempt.

Turkey has relied on the good personal ties between Erdogan and US President Donald Trump to smooth over divisions, but Biden is expected to be tougher on Turkey over foreign and defense policies and Ankara’s human rights record, Reuters reported.

Ankara’s purchase last year of the S-400s, which are not compatible with NATO defenses, raised the prospect of US sanctions early next year if Congress approves a defense spending bill which the House of Representatives has already voted to include language requiring the president to sanction Turkey.

However, in an interview with Reuters, AK Party Deputy Chairman Numan Kurtulmus played down that prospect.

“The US President will most likely watch the balance in the Middle East very carefully for US interests, and will not want to continue the tense ties with Turkey,” Kurtulmus said.

“...I believe they will take positive steps in the future.”

Washington said the S-400s pose a threat to the capabilities of its F-35 stealth fighter jets and has removed Turkey from the jet program where it was a manufacturer and buyer.

For its part, Ankara said the S-400s will not be integrated into NATO and has called for a joint working group to discuss US concerns.

Kurtulmus stressed that Turkey would not bow to pressure to return the Russian systems, or leave them unused.



Florida Man Shot Israeli Visitors Thinking They Were Palestinians, Police Say

 Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza mark 500 days of their captivity by spreading a massive Israeli flag depicting an hourglass in the Mediterranean Sea, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. Hebrew of the flag reads "Without the abductees, Israel runs out". (AP)
Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza mark 500 days of their captivity by spreading a massive Israeli flag depicting an hourglass in the Mediterranean Sea, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. Hebrew of the flag reads "Without the abductees, Israel runs out". (AP)
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Florida Man Shot Israeli Visitors Thinking They Were Palestinians, Police Say

 Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza mark 500 days of their captivity by spreading a massive Israeli flag depicting an hourglass in the Mediterranean Sea, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. Hebrew of the flag reads "Without the abductees, Israel runs out". (AP)
Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza mark 500 days of their captivity by spreading a massive Israeli flag depicting an hourglass in the Mediterranean Sea, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. Hebrew of the flag reads "Without the abductees, Israel runs out". (AP)

A Florida man was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder after shooting at a vehicle with two men who he thought were Palestinians but turned out to be Israeli visitors, local authorities and media reports said.

The website of Miami-Dade County Corrections says the suspect, 27-year-old Mordechai Brafman, was charged with two counts of attempted murder and booked on Sunday for the shooting on Saturday.

A police official confirmed earlier reports from local media that Brafman said in an interview with police that while he was driving his truck in Miami Beach, he saw two people he thought were Palestinian. He stopped, shot at and killed them.

However, the victims survived. One was shot in the shoulder and the other had a wounded forearm. They turned out to be Israeli visitors and not Palestinians, police said.

A representative or lawyer for Brafman could not be immediately identified by Reuters.

Human rights advocates say there has been a rise in anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and antisemitic hate in the United States since the start of US ally Israel's war in Gaza following an Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian group Hamas.