[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 77 (Thursday, May 4, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E611-E612]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AMERICAN HELLENIC INSTITUTE LETTER TO PRESIDENT TRUM REGARDING TURKEY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GUS M. BILIRAKIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 4, 2017

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to include in the Record a 
letter from the American Hellenic Institute regarding President Trump's 
upcoming meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As one of 
the co-chairs of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus, I have advocated 
for the rights of Greece and Cyprus against the intimidating actions of 
Turkey. Since Turkey's Presidential referendum vote, Erdogan's 
government continues to ignore and violate long-standing international 
law and treaties--a threat to regional security and an impediment to 
regional interests, stability, and prosperity.
  As we have done times before, we must continue to condemn these acts 
of aggression and renew our call for President Erdogan's government to 
demonstrate to the international community that it is committed to all 
international laws and agreements. Additionally, the United States and 
our strategic regional allies must be better prepared to respond 
quickly and forcefully to transgression of international law from any 
nation including NATO ally Turkey through targeted sanctions and 
foreign aid restrictions.

     President Donald J. Trump,
     President of the United States,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: On behalf of the nationwide membership 
     of the American Hellenic Institute (AHI), I write in advance 
     of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to 
     Washington to raise the Institute's concern about how Turkey 
     is a significant force of instability. In recent months, 
     Turkey has elevated tensions in the Aegean Sea with NATO ally 
     Greece, threatened Cyprus' sovereign right to explore for 
     natural gas within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and has 
     infringed upon Cyprus' EEZ, and President Erdogan has 
     directed alarming rhetoric toward the European Union and its 
     citizens. In February, I wrote to urge the administration to 
     act to uphold the rule of law and to call on Turkey, the 
     provocateur of these tensions, to cease and desist with its 
     actions that have dire implications to U.S. security 
     interests. Now, AHI requests these issues, which demonstrate 
     the instability for which Turkey is responsible, to be placed 
     on your meeting agenda with President Erdogan on May 16.


                               Aegean Sea

       Historically, Turkey has violated Greece's sovereignty in 
     the Aegean Sea on an almost daily basis. In 1996, Turkey's 
     claims to the Imia islets nearly led the two NATO allies to 
     war over the islands. In recent years, the Institute notes 
     Turkey's frequent and egregious violations of NATO ally 
     Greece's sovereignty in the Aegean Sea:
       In 2014, there were 3,045 total violations of Greek 
     national airspace and Infringements of Air Traffic 
     Regulations (ICAO) that resulted in eight engagements with 
     Hellenic Air Force interception fighters, according to the 
     Hellenic National Defense General Staff.
       On March 1, 2015, Turkey unilaterally issued a Notice to 
     Airmen (NOTAM), a move to reserve extensive airspace over the 
     Aegean Sea for military maneuvers that Greece protested. On 
     March 3, 2015, Turkey canceled the NOTAM thanks to pressure 
     from the U.S. and NATO.
       On July 15, 2015, six Turkish fighters crossed into Greek 
     airspace 20 times--in a single day.
       On February 15, 2016, six Turkish fighter jets and a CN-235 
     maritime patrol aircraft violated Greek airspace 22 times--
     again, in a single day.
       In sum, 2,573 infringements and violations of Greece's 
     airspace occurred in 2016
       In fall 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has 
     elevated tensions unnecessarily by publicly calling into 
     question the

[[Page E612]]

     integrity of the Treaty of Lausanne. Now, on one day during 
     the week of January 29 to February 4, 2017, Greece's Ministry 
     of Defense recorded 138 violations of Greek airspace over 
     islands in the Aegean Sea, which had to be intercepted. This 
     is unprecedented. On the sea, Greek and Turkish ships were 
     involved in a ``faceoff' when a Turkish navy missile boat, 
     and supporting crafts, entered and violated Greece's 
     territorial waters by the Imia islets.
       These Turkish provocations have caused Greece's Defense 
     Minister, Panos Kammenos, to state, ``The Greek armed forces 
     are ready to answer any provocation.''
       President Trump, Greece's sovereignty in the Aegean Sea and 
     respect for the Treaty of Lausanne, both of which are in the 
     best interests of the United States, must be respected. 
     Greece must expend immense financial resources to defend its 
     sovereignty--upwards of $400 million a year--during an 
     economic crisis from which it is in the best interest of the 
     United States for Greece to emerge. Moreover, despite its 
     economic difficulties, Greece continues to be of vital 
     importance for the projection of U.S. strategic interests by 
     its geographic location and its strong, unwavering support 
     for NATO. As home to the most important naval presence in the 
     Mediterranean Sea, NSA Souda Bay, Crete, Greece has been 
     critical to the delivery of U.S. troops, cargo, and supplies, 
     providing access and extending the U.S. and NATO's reach into 
     the Middle East and North Africa. To illustrate, in 2015, 
     more than 70 U.S. Navy and NATO ships and vessels visited 
     Souda Bay and more than 2,830 U.S. Air Force and NATO planes 
     utilized the 115th Combat Wing on Crete. Also, more than 65 
     U.S. ships and more than 1,200 trainees utilized NMIOTC.
       In addition, Greece is a top contributor to the defense 
     efforts of NATO, spending an estimated 2.38% of its GDP on 
     defense. Greece is second behind only the United States in 
     this regard.
       Greece aspires to achieve complete normalized relations 
     with Turkey, however, the latter, as official policy, 
     continues to threaten Greece with war (casus belli) and 
     promotes territorial claims that are unfounded and devoid of 
     any legal basis. These claims disregard all relevant treaties 
     and agreements in force, including the 1947 Paris Peace 
     Treaty under which the Dodecanese Islands and adjacent islets 
     were ceded by Italy to Greece. Because the U.S. is a 
     signatory to the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty, this Treaty is U.S. 
     federal law which the U.S. is bound to enforce. Turkey's 
     ongoing dispute of Greece's sovereignty in the Aegean was 
     reaffirmed by policy analysts following Turkey's National 
     Security Council meeting held in late March 2017, according 
     to a press report. The analysts observed ``. . . fiery 
     rhetoric emanating from Ankara is not just to win over a 
     domestic audience, saying that it underlines its core policy 
     objectives with regard to the Aegean and the Eastern 
     Mediterranean.''


                                 Cyprus

       In March 2017, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned 
     Cyprus' research for natural gas within Cyprus' exclusive 
     economic zone (EEZ). In recent years, Turkey has violated 
     international law by practicing ``gunboat diplomacy'' in the 
     eastern Mediterranean with an incursion into Cyprus' EEZ. 
     This has led Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades to express 
     concern about Turkey sparking a ``hot incident'' in the 
     eastern Mediterranean. He stated, ``I fear the period from 
     now until the referendum in Turkey, as well as the effort to 
     create a climate of fanaticism within Turkish society,'' To 
     further illustrate Turkey's provocative actions are ongoing, 
     Turkey issued a Navtex on April 19, 2017 that according to 
     one press report reserves ``an area inside the island's 
     Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), off Famagusta, to carry out 
     seismic surveys between April 30 and June 30.'' The report 
     elaborates on coverage of the Navtex, stating it not only 
     includes Cyprus' EEZ, but it also extends into a part of 
     Cyprus' territorial waters. Adding to this development is 
     Turkey's intensified military presence in an area stretching 
     south from Rhodes to the coast of Paphos in Cyprus and the 
     issuance of three consecutive Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) for 
     military exercise over Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus. 
     Moreover, these threats in Cyprus' EEZ are an endangerment to 
     U.S. companies, such as ExxonMobil and Noble Energy, who have 
     been, or will be, working to explore for hydrocarbons in the 
     eastern Mediterranean.
       The Republic of Cyprus has the sovereign right under 
     international law to explore and exploit its natural 
     resources within its EEZ. The United States has repeatedly 
     stated it supports Cyprus' sovereign right to explore energy 
     in its offshore areas. Cypriot government officials, such as 
     Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides, have stated the island's 
     natural resources belong to all its people and that once a 
     settlement is reached, potential revenues would be shared.
       Furthermore, regarding the Cyprus settlement talks, which 
     are at a near stand-still, instead of helping to provide 
     stability by promoting a just settlement supported by both 
     communities, Turkey continues to insist on antiquated and 
     obstructive stances. For example, Turkey's insistence the 
     Treaty of Guarantee allows for future unilateral Turkish 
     military interventions, which is completely unacceptable and 
     contradicts the governing principals of a European Union 
     member state. Moreover, Turkey refuses to withdraw its 40,000 
     illegally-stationed troops on Cyprus. The withdrawal of 
     Turkish troops would be a significant confidence building 
     measure in the peace process.
       Meanwhile, Turkey's relations with the European Union are 
     at low-point. President Erdogan's consolidation of power 
     following the referendum vote of April 15 is of concern, 
     leading to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of 
     Europe (PACE) to announce it will begin re-monitoring Turkey 
     and also leading some members of European Parliament to state 
     the EU will have to reassess its position on Turkey. In the 
     lead-up to the April 15 referendum, President Erdogan called 
     Europe the ``center of Nazism.'' This does not bode well for 
     the fragile EU-Turkey deal on the migrant crisis, which if it 
     falls apart, will have a detrimental effect on Greece, which 
     took the brunt of the crisis in 2015-16 with more than one 
     million arrivals.
       Finally, AHI understands fully well that defeating ISIS 
     will be at the top of your agenda with President Erdogan. 
     However, the United States cannot depend on, or trust, Turkey 
     as an ally in this important fight. ``Erdogan long played 
     footsie with the Islamic State; his government apparently 
     helped arm, sell oil from, and open Turkish territory for use 
     by ISIS. More recently he has targeted the Syrian Kurds, U.S. 
     allies against ISIS,'' writes Doug Bandow, senior fellow at 
     the Cato Institute, an April 26, 2017 opinion piece. Bandow 
     concludes, ``In the case of Turkey, President Erdogan has 
     abandoned its long-standing affinity for the West.'' 
     Moreover, in a 2015 article, Robert Ellis cited a UN Security 
     Council report that he states concludes: ``Turkey has also 
     provided the primary routes for arms smuggled to ISIL and the 
     Al-Nusrah Front, an Al-Qaida affiliate.'' Additionally, 
     Turkey only agreed to help after the Turks ``forced the U.S. 
     into a yearlong negotiation'' to use Incirlik air base to 
     strike the Islamic State, according to Wall Street Journal 
     commentary. As a result, policy analysts have openly 
     questioned whether Turkey should be a NATO member. To further 
     illustrate this point, Turkey undermined the coalition's 
     efforts to combat ISIS when it killed partner forces in a 
     series of airstrikes in Syria and Iraq on April 25th.
       Therefore, AHI cautions that whatever future assistance 
     Turkey should grant the United States on ISIS must not come 
     at the expense of true and tried allies who promote and 
     advance U.S. national interests in the eastern Mediterranean 
     region.
       President Trump, AHI's perspective on these pressing issues 
     are founded on the rule of law and are based on what is in 
     the best interests of United States security in the region. 
     Given the conduct and policies of the Erdogan regime, it is 
     essential that the U.S. fundamentally re-assess our alliance 
     and overall relationship with Turkey. We hope that you will 
     make this point to President Erdogan.
       Thank you for your consideration.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Nick Larigakis,
     President.

                          ____________________