[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 176 (Tuesday, November 5, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6372-S6374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Turkey and Syria
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about
the U.S. relationship with Turkey and certain actions that the U.S.
must consider in order to protect our national security interests and
those of our true allies in the region.
Today, more than ever, we need strong allies and partners in Europe.
As the Trump administration does nearly everything in its power to
erode our alliances and denigrate our closest friends, we find
increasingly emboldened regimes in Russia and China. The U.S. cannot
stand up to them alone. Throughout the Cold War, our diplomats worked
assiduously to build strong bonds with allies, knowing that having
close partners was better than having enemies on the world stage.
Our strongest allies should be those in NATO, those that have made a
treaty commitment to mutual defense, those who share our values, those
who work in concert with us to face the threat from countries like
Russia and Iran with common cause. Unfortunately, Turkey under Erdogan
embodies none of those things. Today, I would like to lay out a fact
pattern that so many of my colleagues have come to see in recent weeks,
that Turkey under Erdogan should not, Turkey under Erdogan cannot be
seen as an ally.
How many more times do we need to see Turkey betray the values upon
which NATO was established? How many more times do we need to see
President Erdogan visit Moscow, Sochi, or any other Russian city to
kiss Putin's ring? How many more journalists need to be locked up by
Erdogan before we stop calling Turkey a democracy?
Enough is enough. Over my 27 years in the House and the Senate, I
have followed developments in the Eastern Mediterranean quite closely.
Turkey's
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invasion of Cyprus in 1974 was a shocking attempt to redraw borders in
Europe in the wake of World War II. To this day, Turkey's invasion of
northern Cyprus must be see for what it is: an illegal occupation that
must end. Turkey's action over those days in 1974 were not the actions
of a democratic country. They were not the actions of a reliable ally.
They were not the actions of a responsible actor on the world stage.
But the events of 1974 would only presage Turkey's aggressive posture
in the eastern Mediterranean in the years to come. To this day, Turkey
under Erdogan continues to aggressively bully international energy
companies, including U.S. companies, and the Republic of Cyprus. Their
sin? Conducting completely legitimate exploration in the Cypriot
Exclusive Economic Zone. This is not territory under dispute or an
issue for debate. Turkey's hostility towards these companies is the
kind of gunboat diplomacy that belongs to eras past and has no place in
today's world.
Examples abound where Turkey continues to operate in bad faith when
it comes to Cyprus. It could abide by UN Security Council resolutions
to transfer the fenced area of Varosha, Farmagusta to the
administration of the United Nations.
These calls to return this area to its original inhabitants, whom
Turkey ejected during the 1974 invasion, have gone unheeded. Instead,
several Turkish Ministers have recently visited and threatened to move
forward with commercial development--a true affront to those forced
from their land more than 40 years ago, as well as to the U.N. Security
Council resolution.
In the eastern Mediterranean, for years Turkey has also aggressively
violated the airspace of neighboring Greece, also a NATO ally. These
dangerous maneuvers have threatened the lives and safety of Greek
pilots, as well as civilians living on the islands below. Greece wants
a good neighbor in Turkey and has sought to find common ground upon a
constructive relationship. But with these airspace violations, Turkey
has shown its true colors, and the international community must come to
terms with this.
We have seen Turkey's belligerence abroad manifest itself even here
in the United States. Who can forget when President Erdogan's
bodyguards attacked U.S. citizens in a Washington park peacefully
demonstrating, as is their constitutional right? And as momentum builds
following the passage of the Armenian genocide resolution in the House
of Representatives, Turkey and its lobbyists are working overtime to
block it in the Senate because they know that if this resolution, which
both I, Senator Cruz, and bipartisan Members on both sides have
sponsored, were to come to the floor for a vote, it would pass
resoundingly and send a clarion message that recognizes the truth. The
Armenian genocide happened, it was a monstrous act, and those who deny
it are complicit in a terrible lie. Genocide is genocide. The Senate
should not bow to this pressure. It cannot bow to this pressure. Let's
pass this resolution today.
Erdogan's behavior abroad has roots inside of Turkey, where the
democratic process has significantly eroded and religious freedom is
under sustained pressure. In particular, the Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew of the Greek Orthodox Church--and its community--faces dire
consequences as the spiritual head of the world's second largest
Christian church. His church properties have been confiscated, and
President Erdogan restricts his religious freedom. This is wrong, and
his All Holiness deserves our attention and our ongoing support. For
those who speak about religious freedom in this Chamber--and I admire
the many who have--as well as on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, this is also an issue of religious freedom.
Of course, Erdogan's repression of his own citizens does not stop
with restricting religious freedom. Following its emergency decree
after a failed coup attempt, Turkish authorities engaged in a draconian
crackdown and roundup of citizens across the country. The U.N. reports
that close to 160,000 people were arrested in an 18-month period,
including over 100 women who were pregnant or had just given birth,
often on grounds of nothing more than that they were associated with
their husbands, many of whom were suspects on trumped-up charges.
As we examine Turkey's increasingly destructive role in the world, we
must never turn a blind eye from those Turkish citizens who want a more
democratic future for themselves and their families.
In July, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed my Eastern
Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act with a strong
bipartisan vote. We are working for full passage in the Senate, and I
understand the House Foreign Affairs Committee will mark up the
legislation soon.
I traveled to Greece and Cypress in the spring and told leaders in
both places that this was not--not--an anti-Turkey bill and that we all
wanted Turkey to be a constructive and democratic partner in the
region. At the time, this vision seemed a long ways off, but now, given
Erdogan's recent choices, it has become virtually impossible. Let's
review events since my visit to the region in the spring of this year.
First, Erdogan took delivery of the S-400 air defense system from
Russia. Let me repeat. Turkey, a supposed NATO ally, purchased an air
defense system from NATO's main adversary--the reason that NATO largely
came to be. This choice endangered the security of the United States
and other NATO partners. The United States made a good offer of the
Patriot missile system--an offer that would have maintained the
security equilibrium in the region and enabled Turkey to remain a NATO
member in good standing. That offer was rejected.
The Trump administration did the right thing in removing Turkey from
the F-35 program. It was clear to all involved that the S-400 could not
be parked next to an F-35. After all, it is meant and it is intended to
be able to shoot down an F-35--this from a NATO ally.
But the administration has fallen well short of its obligations under
the law. Under the CAATSA law, which I helped write, the administration
is required to sanction any entity that conducts a significant
transaction with the Russian military or intelligence sectors. This
provision of law is not permissive. It is not optional. Under no
credible definition would the purchase of an S-400 Russian system not
be considered significant. The administration is breaking the law by
ignoring this provision and kowtowing to Ankara. According to U.S. law,
Turkey must be sanctioned for the S-400 system, and it should happen
today. Otherwise, it will send a global message that we are not serious
about sanctioning significant transactions with the Russian military.
Some have said that such an approach is unwarranted and unwise lest
we push Erdogan into Putin's arms. He is already there. He clearly is
already there.
In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Syria, I held up
this poster, and I asked the Secretary of State: What is wrong with
this picture? This picture of President Erdogan, President Putin,
and President Rouhani of Iran says everything--says everything. They
are two of our biggest foreign policy challengers. And who is there
with them? Erdogan. I argued that we were ceding American leadership in
Syria and the region to leaders and countries whose policies were
intrinsically at odds with our own. Unfortunately, today we are seeing
the terrible consequences of this abdication of leadership.
Erdogan's warm relationship with Putin should ring alarm bells across
the NATO alliance, raising concerns about NATO's exposure at Incirlik
and intelligence vulnerabilities with respect to the alliance's
presence in Turkey. It raises concerns about how Erdogan and Putin may
be working together to counter U.S. interests across the Middle East,
in the Balkans, and around the world. NATO is an alliance of shared
values. None of those values are respected--none of them--by the
current occupant of the Kremlin or in Ankara.
Second, provided with a green light from the Trump administration,
President Erdogan's invasion of Syria to attack our Kurdish partners is
an unconscionable act of brutality that has caused death and untold
suffering among our Kurdish friends and partners. Tens of thousands
have fled the area, creating an even greater problem
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of refugees in that war-torn region. The consequences of these actions
by Turkey and its proxies will persist for years to come.
Turkey's incursion poses a direct threat to U.S. national security
interests in the region, not the least of which is by facilitating
Russian foreign policy ambitions in the region and opening the door for
ISIS to reconstitute.
At its inception, Turkey did not take the threat of ISIS seriously
enough, and in the early days, ISIS's ability to easily traverse the
Turkish-Syrian border bolstered its ability to grow in strength and
numbers. Turkey did nothing--nothing--to stop them, did nothing to stop
foreign fighters going into Syria. While Turkey has legitimate security
concerns from the PKK, its singular focus on extending this feat to the
whole Kurdish population risks its ability to effectively confront
other terrorist organizations, including ISIS and al-Qaida.
There must be a full accounting by Turkey of these atrocities. That
is why I am today introducing an expedited resolution of request for
the Secretary of State to inform the Senate in 30 days of the extent of
Turkey's human rights abuses in Syria. This resolution invokes
statutory authority under the Foreign Assistance Act to require the
Secretary of State to assess and report to Congress on Turkey's human
rights abuses in Syria. This resolution calls for the administration to
provide all available information concerning alleged violations of
internationally recognized human rights by Turkey, its armed forces,
and associated groups in Syria. It calls for a description of the steps
the United States has taken to promote Turkey's respect of human rights
in its Syria operations. The resolution also calls for a determination
of whether Turkey's actions have resulted in the release of ISIS or
other extremists inside of Syria.
I am also working closely with the chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee, Senator Risch, on the Promoting American National Security
and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act of 2019, which would impose
targeted sanctions on Turkey for its actions in Syria. A similar
bipartisan measure passed the House last week, and I urge the Senate to
deliberate on the measure. Based on changing circumstances on the
ground, we are updating the language to condition sanctions based on
Turkey's actions. I hope it will be marked up in the coming days.
For years, the world held out hope that Turkey could be the bridge
between east and west--a democratic, secular country that could be a
democracy in Europe and a responsible actor on the world stage. I, for
one, was always skeptical but certainly supported the sentiment. Today
we are the furthest from that dream we have ever been. The most
imprisoned journalists in the world--in the world--are not in North
Korea, Russia, or Iran; they languish in Turkish prisons. This doesn't
happen in a democracy.
As international pressure mounted following Turkey's invasion of
northern Syria, Erdogan threatened to unleash thousands of refugees
onto the European Union's shores, a wave like we saw in 2015. These
aren't the statements of a rational, responsible actor. Yet where is
U.S. policy? The Trump administration was its normal erratic self in
recent weeks as it flailed from sanctions on Turkey to claiming
victory. The Kurds are the ones who emerged as the clear loser. Erdogan
was eager to sign on to the Pence-Pompeo plan because it gave him all
he wanted--full control of the Kurdish areas of Syria and carte blanche
to wipe out swaths of the community.
In addition to claiming victory, President Trump now wants to invite
Erdogan to Washington with open arms. Stunning. The photo of Trump and
Erdogan in the Oval Office will not only be the nail in the coffin for
any Kurdish aspirations to live in peace and security, it will also be
the death knell for any credibility the United States hopes to maintain
with any combat partners in the future.
President Trump, I urge you to cancel this invitation and side with
the bipartisan consensus in the Senate and the House that Turkey, under
Erdogan, is no friend to the United States. Do not ruin our reputation
further by fawning over yet another authoritarian leader. You want to
repair the damage that has been done? Show our commitment to our allies
by inviting the Syrian Kurdish leadership to the Oval Office for a
meeting on how we prevent a resurgence of ISIS. That is how you protect
our interests. That is how you protect our national security.
It is time to challenge Erdogan to live up to NATO's values and to
respect the international order. It is time to stop enabling Turkey to
be a bad actor. It is time for the Senate to act.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cruz). The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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