Washington, D.C. – The United States imposed sanctions on at least four Turkey-based entities that violated U.S. export controls and helped Russia’s war effort, on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).
The sanctions were placed on an electronics company and a technology trader alleged to have helped transfer “dual-use” goods and were part of a global sanctions package on more than 120 entities announced by the U.S. Treasury.
“While this is a step in the right direction, it is not enough, as Azerbaijan has exported more than it has produced with domestic production in decline,” said Assembly Co-Chairs Van Krikorian and Anthony Barsamian.
“Both Turkey and Azerbaijan have established themselves as major players in circumventing sanctions while posturing otherwise, and it is past time for the United States and Europe to compare what these regimes tell the West with what they actually do.”
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In a Politico article released last month, reports stated that Turkey and Azerbaijan are circumventing sanctions and aiding Russia, noting that “Turkey doubled its direct imports of Russian oil last year and has refused to impose sanctions on Russian crude despite simultaneously offering military and humanitarian support to Ukraine.”
François Bellamy, a French Member of the European Parliament, and member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, questioned the data shown that Azerbaijan exported 242,000 barrels a day more than it produced between April and July last year – a large margin over domestic production, which stood at 648,000 barrels a day last month and is in long-term decline, according to ministry figures.
“How can a country diminish its production and increase its exports at the same time?” Bellamy asked.
Finland’s Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) warned late last year that “a new route for Russian oil to the EU is emerging through Turkey, a growing destination for Russian crude oil,” where it is refined into oil products that are not subject to sanctions and sold on.
In a concurrent article, Politico reported that the European Parliament also condemned Azerbaijan’s human rights record, further “casting a shadow over the EU’s high-profile deal with Azerbaijan to double its annual gas deliveries to the bloc to 20 billion cubic meters by 2027.”