October 11, 2002

Letters to the Editor
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036

Dear Editor:

Congratulations on your editorial "Double Talk on Democracy" (October 6, 2002--click here to read) and for finally shining a light on the "hypocrisy" of U.S. policy regarding the military-controlled government of Turkey, and the need to bring the military under civilian rule to achieve democracy.

I urge another editorial on the "hypocrisy" of the alleged value of Turkey's bases. You state "Turkey's armed forces have long provided Washington with valuable military bases." What is it that they have provided, and at what price?

For the record, here are a few of the examples of Turkey's unreliability as an ally to the U.S. There are many more.

• Over NATO objections, Turkey allowed three Soviet aircraft carriers passage through the Bosphorus, July 18, 1976, February 25, 1979 and May 16, 1983 in violation of the Montreux Convention. The ships posed a formidable threat to the U.S. Sixth Fleet.
• During the 1973 Mid-East War, Turkey refused the United States military overflight rights to resupply Israel and granted the U.S.S.R. overland military convoy rights to resupply Syria and Iraq, and military overflight permission to resupply Egypt.
• In 1979 Turkey refused to allow the U.S. to send 69 U.S. marines and six helicopters to American military facilities at Incirlik in Turkey for possible use in evacuating Americans from Iran and protecting the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
• The January 20, 1981 New York Times reported that Turkey was not in favor of "the United States using Turkish bases for conflicts not affecting Turkey."
• Throughout Operation Desert Shield and during the first 48 hours of Desert Storm, Turkey refused the use of NATO's Incirlik airbase by the U.S.
• Since the UN sanctions were imposed on Iraq in 1991, Turkey has condoned the smuggling of oil from Iraq into Turkey, thus undermining international sanctions against Iraq and providing Iraq with a valuable source of hard currency to threaten U.S. interests.
• In September 1996, Turkey refused to assist the U.S. in its operations against Iraq.

For the U.S. to be looking towards Turkey to assist us in promoting our goals and objectives in the region, which include the rule of law, freedom, democracy, and the eradication of terrorism, is at best hypocritical.

Twenty-eight years ago, Turkey illegally invaded and occupied 37.3 percent of Cyprus. The U.S. has applied a double standard to Turkey's aggression and violations of the rule of law. The U.S. has repeatedly stated that it does not accept the current conditions on Cyprus. However, the U.S. has failed to properly pressure Turkey to get out of Cyprus as we told Saddam Hussein to get out of Kuwait. With Cyprus on the eve of being admitted to the European Union, Turkey has threatened to annex occupied northern Cyprus.

There is ample evidence to label Turkey a terrorist state because of its aggression in Cyprus and terrorist actions against its 20% Kurdish minority.

Turkey's perceived value as an ally has also come at a high price, especially to the American taxpayer. The IMF, World Bank and the U.S. have bailed out Turkey 19 times in the past decades amounting to many billions of dollars. And over the years the U.S. was sending Turkey billions in military and economic aid until Congress stopped it in 1995. Only recently the Bush Administration got $228 million for Turkey's military, despite the Turkish military's cash fund of tens of billions of dollars (see Eric Rouleau, "Turkey's Dream of Democracy," Foreign Affairs, Nov./Dec. 2000, pp. 100-114.)

If Turkey is to be a real ally of the U.S. and the West, many changes must be made. In the interest of regional stability and dispute resolution, the U.S. should promote Turkey's emergence as a fully democratic state able to complete the EU accession process and to participate fully in any economic opportunities presented. The process will require fundamental change in Turkey's governmental institutions, particularly a reduced role for its ubiquitous military, including putting it under civilian rule, a significant improvement in its human rights record, and meaningfully addressing its intransigence over Cyprus and the Aegean. Past U.S. policy has not had this effect and needs to be critically reviewed by the Bush Administration and Congress.

Sincerely,

Gene Rossides,
Founder
The American Hellenic Institute