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|  | August 3, 1999 The Honorable William J. Clinton Re: Sale of Blackhawk Helicopters to Turkey Dear Mr. President, The American Hellenic Institute has repeatedly expressed its concerns to your Administration that the U.S. relationship with Turkey fundamentally contradicts and discredits your pursuit of human rights, freedom and the rule of law in the Balkans, the Eastern Mediterranean and indeed, in the world. It is with mounting anxiety and concern that we write to you to express our deepest criticism of the ongoing military sales to the armed forces of Turkey. Last month, the military controlled government of Turkey took receipt of the first shipment of ten Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk troop carrying helicopters. The Turkish army will deploy these in Southeastern Turkey in its ongoing repression and scorched earth campaign against its Kurdish minority and in its periodic illegal invasions of Iraq. We call for an immediate halt to the transfers of the remaining 40 Blackhawk helicopters. In early July there was yet another large-scale invasion of northern Iraq by Turkish ground troops and strike aircraft in which 40 Kurds were killed with the illegal use of American weapons. While our Western partners in NATO and the European Union have condemned these latest examples of Turkish aggression and illegal conduct, the Administration stays quiet. You have stated that human rights is one of your preeminent concerns in foreign policy. In Kosovo we risked American lives to offer refuge to Kosovar Albanians suffering from the repression of President Slobodan Milosevic. With respect to Turkey, American foreign policy has not only turned a blind eye to Turkey's human rights abuses, but has encouraged them through continued arms sales. By such action you have made the United States a direct accomplice to Turkey's ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocide against its 20 percent Kurdish minority. For over 15 years the Turkish military has used U.S.-supplied weapons to mount a scorched earth campaign against its Kurdish minority and has killed over 25,000 Kurdish civilians, destroyed over 2,600 Kurdish villages and forced over 2,500,000 Kurds from their homes. Mr. President, the facts are staggering. Rather than being a bulwark of stability in the region, Turkey is the direct cause of instability. And while she proclaims herself a democratic nation, the military controlled government of Turkey muzzles its press, jails its dissidents, routinely tortures detainees and arranges extrajudicial killings by death squads of Kurdish leaders. The double standard implicit in the advice about Turkey that career State Department and Defense Department and NSC officials have given you is wrong and damaging to U.S. interests. Indeed, American coddling of Turkey has only reinforced Turkey's sense of immunity from normal civilized standards and encouraged it to continue its lawless behavior. To remain complicit in Turkey's current behavior damages American interests. The only path to stability in the Balkans, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East is through the promotion of consistently applied principles of the rule of law and respect for human rights. The democratic voices within Turkey calling for change are active. The United States must now seek to make these voices heard rather than to continue coddling and protecting the Turkish military and their political puppets who oppress them. We call on your Administration to initiate a critical review of U.S. relations with Turkey. It is imperative that arms sales are halted to the Turkish armed forces until Turkey comes into line with internationally recognized standards of conduct, especially in the field of human rights. A democratic, stable Turkey could be an asset to United States interests. However, until this happens, the U.S. must not continue to be an accomplice to ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocide in Turkey. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMRespectfully, MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEugene T. Rossides
cc: Members, the House International Relations, Armed Services and Appropriations Committees | |||
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