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April 2, 1999

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Re: NATO's Bombing of Yugoslavia: Double Standards toward Turkey

Dear Mr. President:

The American Hellenic Institute is following events in the Balkans with mounting anxiety. We share the universal concern about the unfolding humanitarian disaster, condemn the brutality of Milosevic's actions, and support the legitimate aims for autonomy for the Albanian minority in Serbia.

However, we believe--along with nearly some 40% of the American people--that the NATO decision to bomb Yugoslavia was not and is not in the best interests of the United States. Diplomacy had not been exhausted and should not have been abandoned. The resort to force is dramatic evidence of a major diplomatic failure by the White House and State Department. We agree with the many opinion pieces in the print and electronic media which have opposed the bombing and called for a resumption of diplomacy.

Whatever the legitimate objectives of the U.S. in the region, bombing is a counterproductive instrument with which to attain them. The massive refugee flows, the fragile situations in Albania and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the damage to our important relations with Russia, all underline the deficiencies of military action. We are gravely concerned about the long-term damage being inflicted on the political and economic fabric of the Balkans. We strongly commend the Greek response to the crisis by providing infrastructure and financial support for refugee relief inside FYROM and Albania.

Diplomacy should now be the main focus of U.S. and NATO efforts to resolve the Kosovo problem. Serbia, a minor nation, poses no threat to the U.S. or Europe. We particularly echo the calls from the world's spiritual leaders for a bombing truce over the Western and Orthodox Easters.

The U.S., NATO, Yugoslavia, Turkey and the Kurds: A Double Standard

Mr. President, NATO's attack on Yugoslavia and the reasons you have given for this raise wider issues. It is only right that the arguments you use regarding Yugoslavia should apply elsewhere in the region. With regard to Turkey they apply precisely. Practically everything you have said in your speeches and statements (and those by NATO officials and European government officials) regarding Yugoslavia and its Albanian minority applies equally to Turkey and its Kurdish minority. Change Yugoslavia to Turkey and Albania to Kurds in the speeches and statements and they remain accurate.

In fact, the actions of the military controlled government of Turkey against its 20% Kurdish minority are worse than what Milosevic is doing in Kosovo. In their 15 year war of terror against their Kurdish citizens, the Turkish military has killed between 25,000 and 30,000 Kurds and its scorched earth military campaigns have destroyed over 3,000 villages and removed by force over 2,000,000 Kurds from their homes, thus making them refugees in their own country. Further, Turkish death squads have assassinated hundreds of Kurdish leaders. The accuracy of these facts is attested by objective observers such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others, as well as the State Department's 1998 Human Rights Country Report on Turkey.

If, as NATO states, Milosevic is using scorched earth tactics in Kosovo, he has copied them from Turkey's approach against the Kurds. Turkey has followed a brutal policy of ethnic cleansing and their actions meet the criteria for "crimes against humanity" and "genocide." They have employed a policy of dispersal to reduce the percentage of Kurds in Southeast Turkey, which is part of Kurdistan as delineated by President Woodrow Wilson and set forth in the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres.

These horrors exceed what is happening in Kosovo. What is more, they have a direct American connection in as much as U.S. weapons have been used for these purposes. As I wrote to you in my letter of March 18, 1999, active U.S. support of Turkey these past 15 years, including U.S. arms and equipment, has made the U.S. an accessory to Turkey's ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Kurds. This is a matter of intense national shame to American values and principles.

To support autonomy for the Albanian minority in Serbia, while abetting the Turkish military's ethnic cleansing and horrendous human rights violations of the Kurdish minority in Turkish Kurdistan, is a double standard. It is not in the interests of the U.S.

We call on you to state unequivocally that the U.S. supports autonomy for the Kurdish people in Turkish Kurdistan and that, in order to achieve that aim, the U.S. is prepared to apply the same political and economic pressure on the Turkish military as it has on Serbia. NATO should do the same, particularly since Turkey is a member of NATO.

The U.S., NATO, Yugoslavia, Turkey and Cyprus: A Double Standard

In making the case for action against Serbia, you cited the need to oppose aggression. Once again NATO member Turkey is guilty on that count.

Turkey's invasion of Cyprus and occupation of 37.3% of Cyprus in 1974 is external aggression and a violation of the UN Charter preamble and Article 2 (4), and the North Atlantic Treaty preamble and Article 1, and customary international law. Further, Turkey violated U.S. laws because it illegally used U.S. supplied arms and equipment in its invasion of Cyprus. This clear, unambiguous violation of international law far eclipses in severity and in its implications for international order the internal action taken by Serbia in Kosovo.

Ever since 1974, the U.S. and NATO have tolerated and appeased the Turkish military's ethnic cleansing and crimes against the Greek Cypriots in Cyprus.

The actions of the U.S. and NATO regarding Cyprus from 1974 to date are a stain on the honor of both, particularly because of the U.S. accessory role in Turkey's 1974 invasion of Cyprus which the State Department has been attempting to cover-up ever since, as detailed in my March 18, 1999 letter to you.

The parallel between Turkey's invasion and occupation of Cyprus and Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait is clear. The U.S. should be as forceful in ridding Cyprus of its aggressor, Turkey, as it was in Kuwait. At a minimum, NATO should suspend Turkey from the alliance until Turkey is in compliance with the North Atlantic Treaty and the UN Charter.

We ask you, Mr. President, in the interests of the United States to publicly call for the immediate demilitarization of Cyprus, coupled with a NATO peacekeeping force under UN auspices to augment or supplant the present UN peacekeeping force on Cyprus to ensure the security of both communities. Demilitarization is a provision in H.Con.Res.81 and S.Con.Res.41, which passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate in July 1997. Demilitarization is the major step which could lead to a comprehensive settlement.

The present situation in the Balkans gives you and NATO the opportunity to act on the more serious problems of aggression against Cyprus by the military controlled government of Turkey and the Turkish military's 15 year war of terror, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocide against its Turkish minority in Turkish Kurdistan. We urge you to seize the opportunity.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMSincerely,

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEugene T. Rossides

cc: Members of the Congress
Vice President Albert Gore, Jr.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Secretary of Defense William Cohen
Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs Marc Grossman
Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Samuel Berger
U.S. Ambassadors to Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and NATO
Special Cyprus Coordinator Thomas Miller

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