On October 14, 2019, the Trump Administration issued Executive Order (EO) 13894 "Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Syria" in response to Turkey's military actions in Syria. The EO imposes sanctions on current or former officials or agencies of the Government of Turkey, as well as individuals and entities not affiliated with the Turkish government which the Department of the Treasury deems to threaten or undermine the stability of Syria. The EO also applies to any entity which is owned by, controlled by, acting for, or materially assisting any person or entity blocked by the EO.
On the same day as the EO, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also added several Turkish government officials and ministries to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List). The blocked ministries and officials are the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the Minister of National Defense (Hulusi Akar), the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources (Fatih Donmez), and the Minister of the Interior (Suleyman Soylu). The OFAC press release is available here. On October 23, 2019, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources were removed from the SDN List.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
