HALC makes ‘no weapons to Turkey’ petition to US Congress
The Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) has launched a petition to block any attempt to include Turkey again in the F-35 program, from which it has been excluded.
The petition is a letter to four key members of the US Congress that can block such a sale of the advanced aircraft, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
HALC was prompted to send the letter to the four Senators and Representatives after a Kathmerini article revealed that officials in the Biden Administration are pushing for a deal that would make the advance multi-role aircraft available to Turkey again if they agreed to store the Russian-made S-400 anti-aircraft missile system to the air base in Incirlik, southeastern Turkey, where they would be placed under US control.
“Turkey has a lot to prove to the American people before it is given the privileged position of being readmitted to the F-35 program. It has demonstrated a willingness to use American made weapons with impunity against American allies and partners and contrary to American interests,” the letter to US Senators Ben Cardin and Jim Risch and Representatives Michael McCaul and Gregory Meeks states, among other things. It also reminds the Congress members of Turkey using F-16 planes to violate Greek airspace and of its “Blue Homeland” doctrine that “makes expansive planes against Greek sovereignty.”
“In June of 2023, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan conceded that Turkey is ‘charting an independent foreign policy’. That “independence” has been translated by Ankara as: collaborating with Russia; sponsoring and sheltering Hamas; blackmailing NATO; warmongering against Greece, Cyprus, Armenia, Syrian Kurds and Israel. This cannot be rewarded with access to F-35s or advanced American jet engines. We urge you to reject Turkish requests for F-35s, for GE Aerospace Engines, and any further defense articles as long as Ankara maintains the above policies,” the petition concludes.
The petition can be accessed at https://hellenicleaders.salsalabs.org/noweaponsforturkey/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=b78eeb42-357a-4783-a866-ceb027ca4879
