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|  | MEMORANDUM We respectfully suggest that each of the topics in this memorandum deserves media attention and investigation: 1. The U.S. as Accomplice to Turkey's Ethnic Cleansing, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide During the Cold War, U.S. relations with Turkey went largely unexamined. Today the dynamics have changed. The Cold War has been over for 10 years. The Abdullah Ocalan case has brought to the front pages one of the most underreported stories in modern public policy, namely the dark side of the U.S. relationship with Turkey. We now need to confront the grisly reality that in their 15-year-long war against its Kurdish minority, the Turkish military forces have killed some 30,000 Kurds, death squads have assassinated hundreds of Kurdish leaders, scorched earth military campaigns have destroyed over 3,000 Kurdish villages removing by force 3,000,000 Kurds from their homes. Turkey's actions against the Kurds constitute "ethnic cleansing," "crimes against humanity" and "genocide." And the Turks have done so in large part using U.S. supplied arms such as attack helicopters and armored personnel carriers. The accuracy of these facts is attested by objective observers such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and others. These horrors exceed what happened in Kosovo and rival those of Iraq in Kuwait. Our nation's involvement in these terrible acts is an affront to the fundamental issues of our time: freedom, democracy, decency, and human rights, the values we fought for in World War II and against Soviet communism. The fact that the Administration is turning its back on these values is a scandal far exceeding those with which we in Washington and throughout the Nation have been so narrowly concerned over the recent past. Despite all their impressive rhetoric of commitment to democracy and human rights regarding Kosovo, in their approach to Turkey, the State and Defense Departments and the National Security Council (NSC) are in fact siding with aggression, tyranny, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocide. 2. The U.S. as Accomplice to Turkey's Violations of U.S. and International Law
3. The Cover-Up Role of the State Department, Defense Department and NSC Regarding Cyprus 1999 marks the 25th Anniversary of the 1974 illegal Turkish invasion of Cyprus. At that time the State Department failed to enforce the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, and the Foreign Military Sales Act, each of which mandated the immediate halt of U.S. Arms to Turkey A lack of political will, as well as a strong pro-Turkish tilt, in the State and Defense Departments and NSC have corrupted U.S. foreign policy regarding Cyprus. We have witnessed a cover-up of the State Department's accessory role in Turkey's 1974 invasion. It has led to an Orwellian denial that the Cyprus problem is one of aggression and occupation by Turkey with the active participation of the U.S. through the State Department. It has caused the U.S. to turn a blind eye to the killing of 5 American citizens who were murdered after being kidnapped by the Turkish Cypriot militia and Turkish forces during Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in July 1974 and the renewal of aggression on August 14-16, 1974. The United States has a clear moral responsibility to redress this problem. It has not done so. Unfortunately it has chosen to abandon the rule of law regarding Turkey. The Executive Branch's cover-up regarding Cyprus has seriously damaged U.S. national interests and cost the U.S. treasury billions of dollars in wasted military and economic aid to Turkey. 4. The Role of U.S. Officials in Undermining American Values While the President has the final responsibility for this policy, he does not drive it. It is driven by a handful of career foreign service officers in State and their counterparts in the Defense Department and on the NSC. Over the years these officials have shaped U.S. policy toward Turkey with the end effect of violating U.S. laws, undermining American values and making our country a direct accessory in Turkey's crimes and destabilizing role in the region. These officials, past and present, assert that the U.S. is acting as an "honest broker" in the region. The truth is otherwise. Laurence Stern, the late distinguished foreign affairs correspondent and foreign news editor for the Washington Post, punctured that myth in his book The Wrong Horse (1977, page 7) when he wrote that: "One of the most important keys to an understanding of the Cyprus muddle is the realization that the United States, far from being a disinterested broker to the disputes of the past, was a deeply involved participant." A number of these officials after leaving government service have been retained by Turkey as U.S. foreign "agents of influence" registered with the Department of Justice. 5. The U.S. as Accomplice to Turkey's Lawlessness Against Its Own Citizens The U.S. support of Turkey these past decades with military and economic grant aid and military loans and its continuing support of commercial arms sales, special trade benefits and support of loans from the IMF and World Bank makes the U.S. an accomplice to Turkey's lawlessness against its own citizens. Turkey's lawlessness has been on record for many years. The State Department's 1997 Human Rights report stated: "Despite the government's stated commitment to respect human rights, serious human rights abuses continued." The 1998 report, released February 26, 1999 notes no improvement. Using almost identical language, it states: "Despite Prime Minister Yilmaz's stated commitment that human rights would be his government's highest priority in 1998, serious human rights abuses continued....Extrajudicial killings, including deaths in detention from the excessive use of force, 'mystery killings,' and disappearances continued. Torture remained widespread. Police and Jandarma anti-terror personnel often abused detainees and employed torture during incommunicado detention and interrogation." The number of political prisoners in Turkey's jails is notorious. Among the most prominent detainees in Turkey is Leyla Zana. Elected in 1991 as the first Kurdish woman ever voted into the Turkish parliament, she was sentenced in 1993 by a State Security Court, headed by two civilian judges and a military one, to 15 years in prison for espousing the cause of Kurdish rights. In December 1998 she received an additional two years sentence for a letter written by her to the People's Democracy Party (HADEP). In November 1997, 153 members of the United States Congress urged President Clinton to raise her case with the Turkish authorities and seek her immediate and unconditional release. In September 1998 Chairman Ben Gilman of the House International Relations Committee nominated her for a Nobel Peace Prize. In December 1997, Amnesty International declared her a "prisoner of conscience." Turkey's national torture policy has been a matter of public record for many years. In 1990 the distinguished law journal The Record of the Bar of the City of New York devoted a 125 page article to the subject of "Torture in Turkey" (45 Record pp. 6-131, 1990). A follow-up article four years later found no improvement. Turkey's ill treatment of journalists is an international scandal. At the end of 1998, 27 journalists were in prison in Turkey, the highest number of any country for the fifth year running. In July 1999 the distinguished New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) published a report "Turkey: Criminal Prosecutions of Journalists." This stated that political and military leaders have used Article 8 of the infamous Anti-Terror Law to criminalize journalism, jailing reporters and editors for actions such as running a profile of a Kurdish leader, or interviewing disgruntled Turkish soldiers, or suggesting that the military wields too much power. In the CPJ's judgment, this amounts to an effort by those leaders "to control national discourse." One current example is the case of Ms. Nadire Mater. She and her publisher Semih Sokmen are charged with "insulting the military" for publishing a series of interviews with Turkish soldiers. Both face six years in jail if convicted. Several journalists have lost their lives at the hands of the Turkish authorities. For example, in January 1998 police forces killed journalists Mehmet Topaloglu, Selahatin Akinci, and Bulent Dil. In 1996 Mr. Metin Goktepe, a correspondent for the Evrensel newspaper, died while in police custody. 48 police officers, including 3 senior officers and a deputy commissioner, were charged with complicity for the killing but to date no one has been found guilty. Arbitrary arrest and detention remain common. No immediate access to an attorney is provided under the law for persons whose cases fall under the jurisdiction of the State Security Courts. The lack of early access to an attorney is a major factor in the use of torture by police and security forces. Although the law specifies the right of detainees to request speedy arraignment and trial, judges have ordered that a significant number of suspects be detained indefinitely, sometimes for years. Many cases involve persons accused of nonviolent "political" crimes who are often kept in custody until the conclusion of their trials. This horrific account of Turkey's oppression of its own citizens pains us all the more deeply as we have no quarrel with the Turkish people. We salute the brave Turkish citizens struggling for human rights and the rule of law. Our dispute is not with the Turkish people, but with the forces in the Turkish military and Turkish government that deny its own people the basic norms of civilization that we take for granted in the U.S. 6. The Role of Foreign Money in U.S. Governance Turkey has spent an average of $3 to $4 million annually for over a decade on U.S. "agents of influence" registered with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Turkey has retained multiple lobbying firms and also seeks to retain former U.S. officials. In 1987, Mr. Richard Perle resigned as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, a position in which he handled foreign military aid for the Pentagon and strongly advocated military aid for Turkey. Mr. Perle then organized International Advisors, Inc., a lobbying firm consisting of six former Defense, State and NSC officials. Mr. Perle then visited Turkey and secured a contract of $800,000 for the purpose of lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of Turkish interests. Mr. Perle received payments from International Advisors, Inc. as a consultant. This practice apparently enjoys constitutional protection under the First Amendment. Nonetheless, the impression given is that the foreign policy of this country is for sale to the highest bidder. For citizens committed to a foreign policy based on American interests and American values, it is highly disquieting that foreign money and that former high-ranking U.S. officials on the payroll of a foreign government should exert an influence of this nature on American policy making. The U.S. lobbyists for Turkey also bear responsibility as accomplices to Turkey's crimes against the Kurds, its citizens generally and its crimes in Cyprus. Congress should demand an accounting. 7. The Kidnapping and Murder of Five Americans by Turkish Military Forces/Turkish Cypriot Militia in 1974 and the Failure of the U.S. to Investigate and Take Action Against Those Responsible 8. Turkey's Non-Democratic Status Under the Turkish constitution, the military enjoys expressly entrenched prerogatives that enable it to control foreign and national security policy and also to exercise decisive influence over domestic policy. These provisions mean that Turkey is not a democracy in the sense that we understand it. It is close to being a military dictatorship as is shown by the consistent pattern of interference by the Turkish military in Turkish governance. In 1997 it conspired to overthrow the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Erbakan in what was described by Turkish commentators as a "coup." It limits freedom of expression, throws elected officials and journalists in jail, and outlaws political parties. The Turkish military acts without reservation in subverting the normal functioning of democracy. Today, distinguished Turkish officials are standing up to declare the bankruptcy and illegitimacy of these actions. In a speech on September 9, 1999, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Sami Selcuk, stated that the Turkish constitution's "legitimacy was almost zero." He added that it was "an obstacle to democracy and it had to be changed." He called for fundamental reform. We need to stand firmly alongside these brave voices. The Administration, prompted by the handful of career officials who direct U.S. policy toward Turkey, does the opposite. It continues to talk of Turkey as a democracy, thus siding with the military and cutting the ground from under the feet of the reformists. The true issue in Turkey is military versus civilian rule, not secular versus religious rule. November, 1999 | |||
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