U.S. Senators Seek to Punish Turkey Over Jailed Americans
- Lawmakers want IFC, EBRD loans to Turkey to be restricted
- The two organizations have over $10b committed to Turkey
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Prominent U.S. senators are pushing legislation to restrict Turkey’s access to international loans until it releases a jailed pastor and other American citizens, but may have an uphill fight convincing other nations to go along with the plans.
The bipartisan group of lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill to curb assistance to Turkey from the International Financial Corporation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, whose combined commitment to the country exceeds $10 billion. The senators, including Republicans Bob Corker and James Lankford as well as Democrat Bob Menendez, called on Turkey to end what they called the “arbitrary” detention of Americans.