Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent threats to launch a Tifon missile at Athens are not only troubling, they are completely unacceptable, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said Monday.
Speaking from the Senate floor, Menendez referred to Erdogan's Dec. 11 speech in which the Turkish president said he would fire a missile at Athens "if [the Greeks] don't stay calm."
Menendez called on the United States and the international community to take concrete steps to hold Erdogan accountable for his growing ties to Vladimir Putin, his pursuit of repressive and anti-democratic norms, human rights violations and persistent violations of international law.“As violent as Erdogan’s tenure has been at home, his foreign policy has been absolutely awful .… But one thing is clear—the United States must take the Turkish President’s actions seriously …. We need to hold Erdogan accountable for his behavior when he violates international laws, or challenges democratic norms, or allows his forces to commit human rights abuses. And that’s why I’m calling for free and fair elections in Turkey,” Chairman Menendez said.
“But if standing up to human rights abuses makes me an enemy of Erdogan – if calling out Turkey for arming Azerbaijan and enabling the massacre of innocent Armenian civilians makes me an enemy of Erdogan – if demanding Turkey recognize Greek and Cypriot sovereignty makes me an enemy of Erdogan – then it is a badge I will wear with honor.”
As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he will not approve any F-16s for Turkey until Erdogan stops his campaign of aggression throughout the region.
From criminalizing insults to Turkey and free speech to suppressing dissent and political opposition figures, Erdogan has imprisoned and silenced so many democracy and human rights activists that at one point there were more lawyers and journalists in Turkish jails than anywhere else in the world.
According to Menendez, his government continues to try to hide the truth about the Armenian Genocide by persecuting writers and historians.
In 2008, a journalist writing about the genocide was murdered in the streets of Istanbul.
On the eve of Baku's war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey sold $77 million worth of military equipment to Azerbaijan, which was used to attack innocent Armenians.
So it is not surprising that Erdogan met this summer in Tehran with the presidents of Russia and Iran, some of the most brutal dictators in the world, he said.
“That is why, as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I will not approve any F-16s for Turkey until he halts his campaign of aggression across the entire region,” Chairman Menendez continued.
“To my colleagues here in the Senate, I’ll close by saying—do not be afraid to stand up for American values in the face of Erdogan’s aggression. To the international community—do not hesitate to hold Turkey accountable for violating international law.
"To the citizens living in the shadow of Erdogan’s Typhoon missiles—do not forget the United States stands shoulder-to-shoulder with you. And to those people in Turkey who still hope for a free, democratic future—do not give up. One day soon, with your bravery, peace and prosperity will return to your homeland.”
