No. 8
WASHINGTON, DC — AHI applauds comments made by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez on Greek TV channel, Mega TV.
Chairman Menendez stated, in part, the following:
“I would aspire for Turkey to be different than it is under President Erdogan. For Turkey to be the reliable NATO ally, to follow the international norms, to not be belligerent to its neighbors… It is in that context that I have opposed the sale of the F-16s, because at the end of the day, the reality is that we have not seen a Turkey under Erdogan that lives up to those expectations,”
“What we have seen is a Turkey that threatens another NATO ally, i.e. the Hellenic Republic, and it threatens it without justification, without cause. So, in my mind, it would be baffling to sell it military equipment when it harbors such actions and when it has clearly stated time and time again some of its intentions. Maybe the Biden Administration will use my hold on the sale as a way to get Turkey to act in a different way. If that takes place that can be a positive thing. But as of now, I intend to continue to do what I have said I would do, which is that I would not use my ability to approve the sale at this time,”
In discussing Turkey’s belligerence, he elaborated:
“This is one of the historical problems I have with the State Department: you can’t call on both sides to tame their words or to find a way to peacefully resolve their differences when it is one side, and one side only, that is being belligerent,”
“It also seems to me, from a US perspective, that when you have two NATO allies and one is the aggressor, is clearly the one that has created the consequences, then the United States needs to stand with the country that has been aggrieved,”
“NATO needs to have a discussion about what happens if someday, God forbid, one NATO ally attacks another one without provocation. It seems to me that the aggressor is the one that should be punished.”
“We are grateful for Chairman Menendez’s steadfast support for the rule of law in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the willingness to stand up to this Administration’s appeasement of Turkey,” AHI President Nick Larigakis said. “AHI has called out the State Department’s statements that resort to false equivalencies between Greece and Cyprus vis-a-vis Turkey for years. , We appreciate a policymaker of Senator Menendez’s stature reflecting and expressing the same point of view. As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Menendez is a critical voice against the sale of F-16s to Turkey and we applaud his rightful position and advocacy.”