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December 18, 2000

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Clinton:

Re: IMF Aid and Arms Sales to Turkey

The recent IMF emergency aid package to Turkey has highlighted the inherent fragility of the Turkish economy. It has also brought home the need for immediate and fundamental economic reform in Turkey. One aspect of this must be a drastic reduction in military expenditures. In the few remaining weeks of your Administration, it is important that this message is conveyed to Turkey.

The IMF intervention shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that at this time of economic crisis Turkey should devote its full attention and scarce resources to economic reform and revitalization. Funds spent on arms acquisitions, including the $4.1 billion contract under negotiation to purchase 145 Bell Textron Cobra attack helicopters, divert resources away from the much more urgent task of economic reform. If economic reform falters or fails, serious Turkish interests such as accession to the European Union, its ability to compete in the globablized economy and even its political stability will suffer. Setbacks on these fronts will in turn damage American interests.

The IMF rescue package represented an excellent opportunity to make clear to Turkey that weapons sales would not be made until fundamental economic and other reforms in Turkey had taken place. It was a great pity that Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers did not insist on making the aid package conditional to Turkey's abandoning its economically counterproductive policies of huge purchases of armaments for its military.

Those who have Turkey's best interests at heart should understand that wasteful expenditures on unnecessary arms purchases harm these interests. Former French Ambassador to Turkey Eric Rouleau expressed this well in his Foreign Affairs (November/December 2000 issue) article "Turkey's Dream of Democracy" when he wrote that one of the great challenges facing Turkish reformers was to "convince the Turkish military to relinquish its hold on the jugular of the modern Turkish state." By going along with massive weapons sales, the U.S. consolidates the military's grip on power and impedes the reform process. This is damaging both to Turkish and to American interests.

In addition to the economic reasons brought into focus by the IMF, the following grounds, outlined in past letters to the Administration, for strong opposition to continued U.S. arms sales to Turkey, including Cobra attack helicopters, remain valid:

• Turkey's appalling human right record;
• The likelihood that these weapons will be used in Turkey's genocidal war against the Kurds;
• Turkey's existing status as the region's most militarized power;
• Turkey's failure to adhere to international law regarding Cyprus;
• Turkey's failure to respect international law regarding the Aegean; and
• Turkey's undemocratic constitution and military-controlled government structures.

I urge you to abandon all current discussions for arms sales to Turkey and to so state publicly.

I am writing on similar lines to the Managing Director of the IMF.

I am sending a copy of this letter to Secretary Summers and to the Congress.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMRespectfully,

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEugene T. Rossides
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMGeneral Counsel

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