At least five of the 12 sanctions under consideration by US lawmakers against Turkey in connection with the purchase of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft systems are now imminent, Aykan Erdemir, director of the Foundation for Defense Democracies, told Ahval.

This is a slow train wreck. Everyone knew this would happen. We can say that Turkey brought it in through its negligence, the expert said.

According to the analyst, it is not surprising that the US Senate approved a tougher version of the US National Defense Authorization Act on Turkey, due to Turkey's loneliness and stalemate in foreign and defense policies, or perhaps because of the Turkish government.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expected US lawmakers to change their minds based on his recent statements. Ankara said that Turkey is looking towards the West, the European Union, the United States, and that NATO is the basis for Turkey's alliances, so the government may wonder why these statements did not lead to anything, Erdemira added.

According to him, such an expectation demonstrated a deep ignorance that a long-term aggressive policy can be corrected with a few statements overnight.

Sanctions are inevitable, but the upcoming changes in the White House may complicate things, the analyst said.

According to him, there are 12 sanctions that the US president can sign, be it Donald Trump or the incoming US president Joe Biden. If Trump does not sign the sanctions orders, Biden will do so during the first two weeks of his presidency.

According to the analyst, there are rumors that Erdogan asked Trump not to leave the issue of sanctions to Biden's discretion.

Biden might also have preferred to have Trump tackled the issue, which would give him the opportunity to accuse him of favoring an autocrat like Erdogan or being lenient towards Russia, he added.