Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned Turkey of possible sanctions during a news conference at the White House Friday.
He said “we can shut down the Turkish economy if we need to.” At this point, he said that the U.S. is not activating the sanctions, but the president is providing “very significant authorities” to impose sanctions.
Mnuchin said these are “very powerful sanctions,” and “we hope we don’t have to use them.”
His news conference comes amid an incursion by Turkey into Syria with airstrikes targeting U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. The United Nations says that 70,000 people in northern Syria have been forced to flee because of the assault.