[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 197 (Tuesday, December 12, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2340-E2341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             OPPOSE THE SALE OF ADVANCED MISSILES TO TURKEY

                                 ______


                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 12, 1995

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on December 1, DOD's Defense 
Security Assistance Agency notified the House International Affairs 
Committee of the sale of 120 Army Tactical Missile Systems [ATACMS] to 
Turkey. Essentially a massive, guided cluster bomb, each missile is 
accurate at a range of up to 100 miles and delivers 950 small bombs. 
Many of the munitions fail to detonate, remain on the ground, and 
become a mortal threat to noncombatants. I rise today to voice grave 
concerns about this sale and question the rationale and timing of this 
deal. I also want to point out possible consequences of this sale and 
underscore the danger of unconditional military support for an unstable 
regime which routinely commits massive human rights abuses against its 
own citizenry.
   Mr. Speaker, my main concern about this sale is that Turkey's regime 
could use these missiles against civilians as it pursues its ruthless 
campaign against Kurdish guerrillas. Tragically, Kurdish terrorists 
have killed hundreds of innocent civilians. Yet in response, Turkey's 
military has killed thousands, tortured and maimed countless others, 
destroyed almost 3,000 Kurdish villages and forced 3 million people 
from their homes. On November 20, 1995, Human Rights Watch detailed in 
a 171-page report the Turkish military's widespread use of United 
States-supplied equipment in campaigns which inflict death and 
destruction against civilians. The atrocities detailed in this report 
are appalling. The report cites more than two dozen eyewitness accounts 
and substantiates a June 1995 State Department report which also 
concluded that U.S. equipment was used to violate the human rights of 
civilians.
   Mr. Speaker, advocates of the missile sale argue that Turkey would 
not use ATACMS against civilians because of the system's high cost and 
because such use can be easily detected. Both rationales are 
preposterous. Over recent years, Turkey has spent an estimated $7 
billion per annum fighting its internal war. The supposed deterrence 
due to United States detection capabilities also rings hollow given 
that this administration, despite overwhelming evidence that Turkey 
uses United States-supplied weapons against civilians, refuses to 
condition Turkey's use of United States equipment. I am particularly 
disturbed that the State Department's Office on Democracy, Labor and 
Human Rights has lent its support to this sale when it had opposed the 
sale of ordinary cluster bombs to Turkey earlier this year. The sale of 
such weapons appears to indicate that the United States Government is 
willing to ignore Turkey's ruthless suppression of its Kurdish 
population because of Turkey's value as a strategic and economic 
partner. It is worth pointing out, Mr. Speaker, that the prime 
beneficiary of this $132 million contract will be the LORAL Corp., 
which manufactures ATACMS in Camden, AR.
   Mr. Speaker, Turkey is undeniably located in a troubled and unstable 
region of the world. But Mr. Speaker, extending assistance to a fellow 
member of NATO does not mean we must shut our eyes to their violations 
of basic human rights. This administration has prioritized the halt 
of missile proliferation, and I would further question the introduction 
of advanced missile technology into this unstable region on these 
grounds.

  On October 17 of this year, Mr. Speaker, a New York Times editorial 
entitled ``America Arms Turkey's Repression'' concluded that ``[A]ny 
further [military] aid should carry human 

[[Page E2341]]
rights conditions that would promote a political solution to a war that 
has undermined Turkish democracy, boosted the power of the military, 
drained the economy and divided Turkey from its European allies. 
Placing such conditions on assistance would also reduce America's 
complicity in Turkey's repressive internal war.'' Administration 
representatives, many of my colleagues, and political leaders around 
the world are urging the Government of Turkey to pursue nonmilitary 
solutions to the Kurdish crisis because Turkey's purely military 
approach has failed to do anything but prolong the bloody, divisive and 
costly conflict. Mr. Speaker, I would also ask how the transfer of an 
advanced, destructive weapons system serves long-term United States 
interests in promoting nonmilitary solutions to Turkey's internal 
conflict?
  Mr. Speaker, on December 24, national elections will be held in 
Turkey which will have far reaching implications for United States-
Turkish relations and the course of democracy in Turkey. Most observers 
believe the Islamic-based Welfare Party is poised to win more votes 
than any other party and will play an important role in, if not lead, 
Turkey's post-election government. This anti-Western party has declared 
its intentions to reevaluate the foundations of Turkey's strategic and 
economic relationship with the United States. This raises the question 
of whether United States policy makers have thought about the 
consequences should Turkish voters bring the fundamentalists to power? 
If the Turkish military is to remain subordinated to civilian 
authorities, then should we not think twice about providing 
sophisticated weaponry to a regime whose leaders have stated their 
opposition to United States interests in the region?
  Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate my opposition to this sale on the 
grounds that it is amoral and undermines U.S. security interests. 
Turkey's leaders have not sought to assuage concerns that such weapons 
would be used internally, by publicly committing to nonuse of this 
United States-supplied weapon on its own territory, against its own 
citizens. Mr. Speaker, I believe the sale of ATACMS to Turkey is a 
mistake we will come to regret. It is shameful that these implements of 
civilian death and destruction will be labeled ``Made in the USA.''

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