[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 22270]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 22270]]

              PENDING SALE OF ATTACK HELICOPTERS IN TURKEY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Tancredo). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge the 
Department of State not to issue an export license for the sale of 
attack helicopters to Turkey.
  As my colleagues are aware, in July of this year, the Turkish 
government announced that it had awarded a $4 billion contract for 
attack helicopters to the American company Bell-Textron.
  However, before the sale can take place, the Department of State must 
issue an export license and its decision must take into account both 
foreign policy and human rights considerations.
  As I look at these considerations, it is clear to me that sending 145 
attack helicopters to Turkey runs directly counter to American 
interests and values in the region. The United States has a national 
interest in fostering peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean 
region.
  Recent developments in this regard have been encouraging, in 
particular the thaw in relations between Greece and Turkey. Yet, the 
sale of attack helicopters threatens to reverse this positive trend and 
unleash a regional arms race.
  This is not in our interest. It is also not in our interest to see 
these helicopters used not for legitimate self-defense or NATO purposes 
but instead to terrorize and threaten.
  Turkey has had a long record of using U.S.-supplied military 
equipment in direct violation of U.S. law. In 1974, Turkey employed 
U.S.-supplied aircraft and tanks in its invasion of the northern part 
of Cyprus, an area that Turkish forces continue to occupy today with 
the use of U.S.-supplied military equipment.
  For the past 16 years, Turkey has been illegally using American 
weaponry, especially attack helicopters, in a scorched-Earth campaign 
against its Kurdish minority and has threatened to use them against 
Greece and Cyprus as well.
  To date, according to reports from various human rights 
organizations, the Turkish military has killed over 30,000 civilian 
Kurds, destroyed over 2,000 Kurdish villages, and created perhaps as 
many as 2.5 million Kurdish refugees.
  Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and even our State 
Department have reported that Turkey has illegally used American attack 
helicopters in these horrendous crimes against humanity.
  The administration appears ready to grant an export license despite 
statements by the State Department in 1998 that it would condition 
approval of an export license on Turkey's meeting a series of eight 
human rights benchmarks.
  A review of the State Department's annual human rights report issued 
earlier this year can lead to only one conclusion, that Turkey has not 
met the criteria laid down in 1998.
  In light of its own report, the State Department should follow the 
principled example of our NATO ally Germany.
  Just a few weeks ago, Peter Struck, the parliamentary leader of 
Germany's ruling SPD party, announced that a pending multi-billion-
dollar sale of Leopard II tanks to Turkey would be blocked on human 
rights grounds.
  Mr. Struck added that he did not expect this decision to change in 
light of the fact that no progress was being made in Turkey's human 
rights performance.
  The overall impact of going through with this helicopter sale would 
be to damage America's credibility as a champion of human rights and 
endanger regional stability in an area of considerable strategic 
significance to the United States.
  The argument that Turkey needs these additional attack helicopters to 
defend itself against possible attack by Syrian, Iraqi, or Iranian 
tanks is suspicious. The existing Turkish military inventory already 
provides an overwhelming deterrent against these alleged threats.
  This arms deal is also not in Turkey's best interest. Turkey recently 
became a candidate for accession to the European Union. For this 
purpose, it needs to undertake massive restructuring and modernization 
of its economy. It also needs to reduce the military's role in 
government, make dramatic improvements in human rights, resolve 
territorial issues with Greece, and help to solve the Cyprus problem.
  By moving to expand its fleet of attack helicopters, Turkey sends a 
signal of misplaced priorities and undercuts its quest to join Europe.
  In short, I call upon the administration to take a principled stand 
against this pending sale of 145 attack helicopters to Turkey and deny 
the export license.

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