Turkey’s exports to Russia of goods vital to Russia’s war machine have soared this year, and the United States and its allies have expressed concern that the country is acting as a conduit for sensitive goods from its own manufacturers. There are growing concerns that this may be the case.
Expanding trade and the resulting increase in Turkey’s imports of 45 types of civilian supplies used by the Russian military will undermine U.S. and European attempts to rein in the Russian military’s ability to equip it, and the Turkish government and the North Atlantic Tensions are rising with the Treaty Organization (NATO) partners.
In a sign of how reining in this trade has become a priority in Washington, Brian Nelson, the U.S. undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, visited Istanbul and Ankara this week, where he said he would “continue efforts to thwart… ” will be discussed. , to disrupt and investigate trade and financial activities benefiting Russia’s efforts in the war against Ukraine. ”
Mr. Nelson’s visit to Turkey is his second this year, and he said some dual-use parts identified by the U.S. and its allies as being particularly valuable to the war effort will be shipped directly to Russia, even if they are labeled as hazardous. It was carried out among the signs that it was being transported. to go to another country.
These items have both commercial and military uses, complicating efforts to disrupt ghost trade to Russia.
In the first nine months of 2023, Turkey exported $158 million in 45 items listed by the US as “high priority” to Russia and five former Soviet Union countries suspected of acting as intermediaries between Russia. reported. This is three times the level recorded during the same period in 2022, when the Ukraine war began.
The average amount from 2015 to 2021 was $28 million, according to the Financial Times, which analyzed data from the customs database Trade Data Monitor.
The 45 items, including items such as microchips, communications equipment and components such as telescope sights, are subject to export controls in the United States, European Union, Japan and United Kingdom aimed at blocking imports into Russia. There is. However, these can be circumvented by companies using intermediary structures to disguise their final destinations.
Turkey’s imports of priority goods from G7 countries have increased by more than 60% to nearly $500 million so far this year compared to the same period from 2015 to 2021.
Emily Kilcrease, director of the Energy, Economics and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security think tank, said the trade thrives by taking advantage of the regulatory gap between U.S. export controls and EU enforcement. It is said that they are doing so.
“We’re actually in a weaker enforcement position than we ultimately would like because of some third-party countries like Turkey,” said Kilcrease, a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Trade Representative. “We must rely on these countries to take enforcement action in their own jurisdictions to crack down on the specific entities facilitating transshipment.”
European sanctions officials say Turkey, along with the United Arab Emirates, is often an intermediary for Russian companies that use multi-step import routes to circumvent regulations. It was specifically used to procure European products, the official added.
Official data from Turkey shows a sharp increase in export declarations of high-priority goods to the former Soviet states of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, but statistical agencies in these countries show a comparable increase in imports. is not recorded.
These large discrepancies suggest that goods reported by Turkey as destined for intermediaries were actually being shipped directly to Russia, analysts said. Kazakhstan recorded $6.1 million in imports of priority goods from Turkey in the year to September, while exports of these goods to Kazakhstan in the same period amounted to $66 million, according to Turkish data. reached the dollar.
“It’s clear that these goods are heading to Russia,” said Elina Rybakova, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics think tank and vice president for foreign policy at the Kyiv School of Economics.
According to U.S. and EU battlefield assessments, Russia uses high-priority supplies for cruise missiles, drones, and helicopters.
The United States and its European allies have called on Turkey to take measures to restrict trade, according to two Western officials briefed on the matter. The U.S. Treasury also cited this issue in its latest round of sanctions against Russia this month.
“The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and our G7 partners have made it clear that no major partner will be immune from sanctions,” said James O’Brien, U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. Stated. he told reporters on Monday in response to a question about the surge in Turkey’s exports to Russia. Turkey is “making it more difficult to transport certain items…especially from the United States, but obviously there’s always more work to be done,” he said.
“It’s a never-ending job. The Russians are always trying to import more. And it’s important to keep the doors to Russia closed, otherwise a very large-scale invasion of Kiev this weekend will take place. We will see more events like this attack,” O’Brien said in reference to what Ukrainian officials described as Russia’s largest drone attack to date. “We know that the materials supporting these attacks are frequently imported from the West and G7 countries through some of our major trading partners, and we want all of this to stop as soon as possible.”
Kilcrease said if the Turkish government does not crack down on trade, “the United States and its partners will have to take enforcement action.”
While Turkey has maintained strong diplomatic and trade ties with Russia, it has also pledged not to help Russia circumvent Western export controls.
The county’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that although it did not comply with Western sanctions, “it is an integral part of our policy to closely monitor and prevent efforts to evade sanctions through Turkey.” . . . policy”.
The report said that although Turkey’s large financial and industrial companies “strictly comply” with measures to avoid such transactions, “there are many unknown and unimportant individuals who are uneducated or indifferent to sanctions. “There will inevitably be attempts to circumvent it by groups that do not exist.”
Istanbul-based electronics supplier Azint Electronic was sanctioned by the United States this month for allegedly making “shipments to Russia containing high-priority goods such as electronic integrated circuits.”
The company sold $1.3 million worth of equipment to Russia in the year to July, of which $300,000 was in high-priority items, according to Russian customs data. “We were confident that the products we sent were legal,” Ajinto told the Financial Times.
The listed buyer of the preferred product is IC Component, a St. Petersburg company whose filings list one director and shareholder, Elena Frolova. Leaked Russian records suggest that Ms. Frolova has ties to another St. Petersburg group, EKB Neva, on which the United States imposed sanctions in May.
The US State Department described EKB Neva as a “supplier of electronic components, including radio components, microcircuits, connectors, resonators, diodes, capacitors, and resistors.”
Florova’s phone number is listed in the address book as belonging to EKB Neva. She also ordered her take-out food to be delivered to her business address. Mr. Florova did not respond to requests for comment.
The trade tensions come at a sensitive time for Turkey’s relations with the West. The Turkish government is seeking to buy billions of dollars worth of American F-16 fighter jets, and the United States and Europe are pressuring Turkey to accept Sweden’s membership in NATO.
Additional reporting by Henry Foy in Brussels