The unconditional grant of these two military frigates to Turkey should trouble U.S. citizens for the following reasons:
· Turkey
has used its military forces to increase tensions in the Eastern
Mediterranean by intimidating Cyprus, Israel and American-owned Noble
Energy as they explore for LNG deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean.
· It
is still stationing troops in occupied Cyprus and occupying the
northern part of the sovereign Republic of Cyprus, using American-made
military equipment against numerous UN resolutions and several calls for
withdrawal of its troops and ending of the occupation.
· It
is using vessels to frequently violate the internationally recognized
territorial waters of Greece & Cyprus, who are both US allies in the
region.
US lawmakers might be inclined to “donate” the two
vessels to Turkey because HR 6649 mandates that these ships be repaired
in a US shipyard at the expense of the government of Turkey and because
of the hot situation in Syria. But as responsible US citizens however,
we should be concerned about the use of this military equipment.
We oppose this resolution. We feel it is
irresponsible for the US to make such a grant transfer unless Turkey
first makes concrete steps to show good faith in withdrawing its troops
from Cyprus and stops using its military to “bully” its neighbors.
AMERICAN HELLENIC COUNCIL OF CALIFORNIA
