Turkish President: The US sanctions on Turkey have eased somewhat.

On May 17, with the new U.S. administration coming to power, relations between NATO allies are gradually warming, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes that Washington will ease defense sanctions against Turkey. "We can comfortably say that the Countering America's Adversaries with Sanctions Act (CAATSA) has been loosened," Erdogan said. "Turkey's move to buy the Russian S-400 missile defense system has led to a years-long standoff with Washington. The United States imposed CAATSA sanctions on Turkey, targeting Turkey's defense industry and removing the latter from the Pentagon's F-35 fighter jet development program. Erdogan has been seeking a meeting with Trump to reshape the strained relationship. He invited Mr. Trump to visit in a May 5 phone call, when he pledged to take steps to strengthen cooperation with the United States. The United States this week approved the sale of $304 million worth of missiles to Turkey, a sign of warming relations between the two countries.