Author: Vanyan Gary

WASHINGTON, DC – Thirty-five US Representatives have pledged – in a bipartisan letter to President Biden – to “take every action afforded to us as members of Congress” to block the sale of US F-16 fighter jets and upgrade kits to Turkey, in light of the Erdogan regime’s repression at home and aggression abroad against Greece, Cyprus, Armenians and Kurds, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“Armenian Americans join with all our coalition partners in thanking Congressman Pallone for his leadership in checking Erdogan’s escalating threats of aggression against Greece, Cyprus, Armenians, and Kurds,” said ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian.  “We express our appreciation to all who joined this bipartisan appeal and who support legislative initiatives to block the reckless sale of F-16’s to Turkey.”

In addition to the ANCA, the following US civil society organizations are on the record opposing the sale F-16s to Turkey: American Friends of Kurdistan, American Jewish Committee, Hellenic American Leadership Council, In Defense of Christians, Middle East Forum, and PSEKA – International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus.

Congressional Armenian Caucus co-chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Hellenic Armenian Caucus co-chairs Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) were joined by Greek-American Representatives Chris Pappas (D-NH) and Dina Titus (D-NV) in securing Congressional co-signers on the letter to President Biden, sharing their deep concern about the support he expressed for an F-16 sale to Turkey during the recent NATO summit in Madrid, Spain.

The Congressional letter states, “Turkish and Turkish-backed forces have utilized American-made weaponry and components during these incursions to commit war crimes, including purposefully bombing civilian targets like hospitals and schools in Iraq, Syria, and Nagorno Karabakh. They have also been used repeatedly to violate the sovereign territory of NATO allies and partners like Greece and Cyprus. These are hardly the actions of a committed ally to the United States and Europe.”  The letter concludes stating, “precedent shows that Erdogan will not change his behavior if we continue to reward his efforts to undermine the NATO alliance. The United States must not provide any further support to Turkey’s military until tangible steps are taken to halt his destabilizing actions and violations of international law at home and abroad.”

In addition to Representatives Pallone, Bilirakis, Maloney, Pappas, and Titus, Congressional co-signers on the letter to President Biden include Representatives Karen Bass (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Mike Doyle (D-PA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Charles Fleischmann (R-TN), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Susie Lee (D-NV), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), James McGovern (D-MA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Jackie Speier (D-CA), David Valadao,  (R-CA), and Peter Welch (D-VT).

The full text of the Congressional letter to President Biden opposing the F-16 sale to Turkey is provided below.

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Text of Congressional letter to President Biden opposing the F-16 sale to Turkey

July 8, 2022

Dear President Biden,

We are deeply concerned by comments made on June 30 at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Madrid, Spain, on the potential sale of Block 70 F-16s and mechanical upgrades to Turkey. We have strongly urged the rejection of this sale because it would reward President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for ignoring Turkey’s alliance commitments to the United States and NATO and the vast human rights abuses his regime continues to commit at home and abroad.

Erdogan has consistently chosen to prioritize divisive tactics for personal gain above the collective good of his allies. His choice to block Finland and Sweden from joining NATO until he received absurd and unrelated concessions makes it clear that he has done the bare minimum to bolster NATO’s strategic posture since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered the largest crisis the alliance has faced in decades.

Erdogan’s use of alarming tactics antithetical to the common good of the NATO alliance should not come as a surprise. His regime has repeatedly used its military power to destabilize the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East, South Caucasus, and North Africa for years. Turkish and Turkish-backed forces have utilized American-made weaponry and components during these incursions to commit war crimes, including purposefully bombing civilian targets like hospitals and schools in Iraq, Syria, and Nagorno Karabakh. They have also been used repeatedly to violate the sovereign territory of NATO allies and partners like Greece and Cyprus. These are hardly the actions of a committed ally to the United States and Europe.

The sale of American advanced fighter jets to Turkey will not incentivize Erdogan to suddenly transform into a good ally. More likely, these weapons will lead to further death and destruction in the region. Turkey also continues to utilize S-400 missile defense systems, which potentially exposes important tactical information about U.S. weaponry and military operations to Russia.

Additionally, the Erdogan regime continues to promote unfair elections, suppress civil society, and abuse human rights at home to maintain its grip on power. With the Turkish economy in decline and Erdogan’s standing at an all-time low, news outlets directly controlled by his repressive ruling party will use any major weapons sale as propaganda to prop him up like they have already done with the concessions obtained at the NATO summit.

As your Administration seeks to advance the sale of new F-16s and modernization kits to Turkey, please know that we will take every action afforded to us as Members of Congress to prevent it from moving forward. Precedent shows that Erdogan will not change his behavior if we continue to reward his efforts to undermine the NATO alliance. The United States must not provide any further support to Turkey’s military until tangible steps are taken to halt his destabilizing actions and violations of international law at home and abroad.

Thank you for your attention to these concerns, and we look forward to your timely response.

Sincerely

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Humanitarian aid for Artsakh sent by ARS of Greece arrives in Armenia, December 2020 (Photo: Twitter/Armenian Relief Society)

Just when you think you have come across every oddity in Armenia, someone will surprise you with a brand new one. Let me warn you that this problem has nothing to do with internal politics. It has to do with incompetent, careless, and sometimes, corrupt officials whose unacceptable conduct has been going on for over 30 years in Armenia.

Last week, I received an email from Kevork Yazedjian, a scholar and activist in Armenia. He described his frustration and anger at an objectionable incident that he had just experienced. He addressed his email to PM Nikol Pashinyan, the head of the State Income Committee and the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs of Armenia. Yazedjian sent copies of his email to hundreds of Armenians in and out of Armenia to alert them and seek their intervention.

The problem started on June 27 when Yazedjian, along with his sister and her husband, went to the State Income Committee’s office to pick up Armenian books sent from the United States by Vahakn Kupelian who had shipped 78 copies of his mother’s, Siran Seza’s (1903-1973), two novels: Shattered Lives (2015) and Book of Genesis (2019). Kupelian had asked Yazedjian to donate the books to libraries throughout Armenia and Artsakh. When the government official Mr. Sahakyan noticed multiple copies of the two books, he became suspicious that Yazedjian was going to sell them. Sahakyan wrote a memo to the customs officers at the Yerevan airport, asking them to evaluate the price of these books and charge Yazedjian the corresponding import duty.

At the customs office, Yazedjian was shocked when five officials, after consulting with each other, told him that copies of the two novels will be sent to the National Security Service (NSS) to inspect their contents! Yazedjian wondered if censorship of books was part of the duties of the NSS. He was concerned that by the time NSS employees finished reading the two novels, he could be asked to pay a large amount for storage fees. Disgusted by this violation of free speech in a “democratic country,” Yazedjian told the customs officials that they can have the books.

After he sent several letters of protest to various officials, Yazedjian received on June 30 an unexpected phone call from Sahakyan, who asked him to come over so he could give him the books. When he arrived at the office the next day, Sahakyan was not there, but his boss received Yazedjian with utmost courtesy, saying that he had received many complaints about this case which had embarrassed him in front of the whole world. The chief customs officer also claimed that his office had sent several pages of the novels to the NSS, asking them to review them urgently. The NSS had supposedly replied that there are no national security issues in the two novels. 

Given this frustrating experience and his serious interest in Armenian literature, Yazedjian has come up with a new proposal, asking the government to facilitate the transfer of Armenian books and periodicals to Armenia through diplomatic pouch by Armenia’s embassies and consulates overseas.

There is a second more shocking example of gross negligence by Armenian officials which had serious medical and diplomatic repercussions.

After the Artsakh War of 2020, on Dec. 12, 2020 and January 9, 2021, the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) of Greece collected urgently needed humanitarian aid which was flown to Armenia by two Greek military planes. A small part of the cargo was released shortly after its arrival and distributed by the ARS. More than a year later, however, it was discovered that the bulk of the aid was still at the customs’ warehouse at the Yerevan Airport. After several letters of complaint which had remained unanswered, Armenia’s recently-appointed Ambassador to Greece, Tigran Mkrtchyan, responded on June 28, 2022, with troubling news: while the ARS humanitarian aid was finally cleared from customs, “due to the expiration of the items [medicines], part of the cargo had to be destroyed.”

Amb. Mkrtchyan was answering the Greek Armenian community’s letters sent to Pashinyan and other officials on December 14, 2020 and February 7, 2022.

The urgently dispatched medicines were supposed to save the lives of Armenian soldiers wounded during the 2020 war. Who will be held responsible for the loss of the lives of the soldiers who were deprived of these medicines? Furthermore, has the Armenian government sent a letter of apology to the Greek government for the lengthy delay in releasing and destroying urgently flown medicines to Armenia? Greece may not be as responsive next time there is a medical emergency in Armenia. Besides Armenia’s utter negligence in clearing the cargo, the ARS did not even get a reply to its two letters until 18 months later!

This is a prime example of gross negligence. Regrettably, no Armenian official was held responsible for this scandalous behavior, and no one was dismissed! No good deed goes unpunished in Armenia!