The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TURKEY AND SYRIA” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S6512-S6514 on Nov. 12, 2019.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TURKEY AND SYRIA
Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, When President Trump welcomes Turkish President Erdogan to the White House this week, he will be welcoming a known authoritarian, human rights abuser, and friend to Putin, whose behavior increasingly runs counter to the interests of the United States and our allies. It is yet another strategic mistake and a terrible misuse of the power of the Presidency.
In recent years, the President of Turkey has made a series of decisions to part ways with NATO, with the United States, and with the basic principles of democracy. Make no mistake. Erdogan's actions are intentional. It is stunning to think that any American President would legitimize Erdogan's harmful policies by welcoming him to the Oval Office. This meeting is a mistake, plain and simple.
I can only hope that instead of yielding to Erdogan's policies that are so squarely at odds with U.S. interests, President Trump treats this misguided meeting as more than just a photo op with yet another dictator.
The President should instead use this visit to actually stand up for America, for our principles, and for our allies. He can do this by raising the many serious questions that Turkey has yet to address.
I would like to use this opportunity to outline 10 critical questions, each of which deserves real answers.
Question No. 1: Will Turkey reverse course from Erdogan's decision to buy and receive the S-400 air defense system from Russia?
The President's National Security Advisor claims that the administration is very ``upset'' about Turkey's purchase of Russia's S-
400 weapons system. Well, ``upset'' is not a policy, and it falls well short of the Trump administration's legal obligations.
Under the CAATSA sanctions law, Turkey's purchase of the S-400 is a significant and sanctionable transaction. These sanctions should have been imposed in July when Turkey first took delivery of the S-400s. Yet, by failing to implement the legal requirements of CAATSA, President Trump has done lasting damage to U.S. credibility, to the integrity of our sanctions, and to the rule of law.
Is it too much to ask the President of the United States to follow the law?
He can start by imposing CAATSA sanctions when Erdogan is in Washington.
Question Number 2: Will our President sanction the activities of Halkbank, a Turkish institution that facilitated the biggest evasion of Iran's sanctions in history? I repeat: It was the biggest evasion of Iran sanctions in history.
We know that the Justice Department has finally brought charges in the case, but if the administration had followed the law, they would have already imposed sanctions on Halkbank and sent a message to other actors who seek to evade Iran sanctions.
I understand that one of Erdogan's top priorities for his visit to the White House is to secure relief for Halkbank. That is the opposite of what the law requires, and I hope President Trump shows some backbone when Erdogan asks him for yet another favor.
Let's not forget that President Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani represented Reza Zarrab, one of the players in Halkbank's sanctions evasion.
It seems that the President likes to talk tough about his sanctions policy on Iran and yet all the tough talks suddenly stops when the interests of his authoritarian pals or his personal lawyer are on the line.
Question number 3: Will the President accept the commission of war crimes in Syria by Turkish-backed forces--the war crimes that he in effect invited Turkey to commit when he green-lighted its invasion of Syria?
The U.N. reports that more than 200,000 people have been internally displaced from the so-called safe zone controlled by the Turks. Some of those displaced have reported that Turkish-backed forces have beaten civilians and conducted kidnappings and summary executions.
With the pullout of American troops, Turkey was effectively given license to commit these abuses and unleash unspeakable crimes. That is ethnic cleansing.
So many in this Chamber have said never again to this kind of horror in the past. Can we depend on President Trump to do the same?
Last week, I introduced a binding resolution that would require the State Department to report on Turkish human rights abuses in Syria. State's findings could have a direct bearing on arms sales to Turkey. Meanwhile, we have additional legislation to hold Turkey accountable that has been waiting for a vote for weeks.
But where are we? Did we pass the Risch-Menendez bill on Turkey? No. Did we pass the House version of that legislation? No. Day after day, week after week, we sit on our hands, too timid to act on any legislation that might upset Erdogan while he is in town. Whatever happened to standing up for our American values?
This weekend, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien declared that
``there's no place for ethnic cleansing, for war crimes in the 21st century.'' Will President Trump deliver that message to Erdogan on Wednesday? Will he seek to maintain any shred of dignity and U.S. credibility on human rights issues, or will he let Erdogan engage in these horrific human rights issues without consequence?
Question Number 4: Will our President stand up to Turkish aggression against its neighbors throughout the region? Turkish naval ships routinely violate the exclusive economic zones of Cyprus and may take measures in Famagusta that would set the peace process on the island back even further.
Turkey also routinely violates airspace that belongs to Greece, brazenly disregarding Greece's sovereignty and the safety of Greek pilots and those on the ground below.
Has President Trump uttered a word of support for our Greek friends and NATO ally? Will he affirm America's relationship with Greece during Erdogan's visit to the White House?
The EU has developed a sanctions framework that would address Turkey's actions in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone. Will Donald Trump follow suit?
Question No. 5: Will our President condemn or accept Erdogan's warming relationship with the Russian Federation?
In addition to buying the S-400, Turkey is now in talks to purchase the Russian Sukhoi aircraft. Last week, Erdogan felt the need to coordinate with President Putin prior to coming to the United States. According to Reuters, he said he would hold a phone call with the Russian President over the weekend to ``form the basis'' of his talks with President Trump.
Imagine this, a NATO ally--NATO comprised primarily to defend against the Russian Federation--a NATO ally going to have conversations with Putin to form the basis of his conversation with President Trump. Aside from perhaps Hungary, I can't imagine any other leader in NATO coordinating with Putin before a conversation with an American President.
Some say we need to tread carefully with Turkey lest we push it into Russia's arms. Push? It seems to me that Erdogan has jumped into Putin's arms long ago with no provocation from us.
Question No. 6: Will President Trump call out Erdogan's assault on the democratic process in Turkey? Will he stick up for civil society groups, university professors, and others who have been unjustly detained? Will he stick up for journalists there, even as he demonizes the free press here at home? More journalists are imprisoned in Turkey than any other country in the world--in the world.
Under article 2 of the NATO charter, member countries commit to a certain set of democratic principles. This is the basis of the alliance. At its core, this is why we commit to the mutual defense of these allies. They share our values, our belief in human rights, in human freedom, in democracy, and in the rule of law. Yet all of Erdogan's actions over the past few years run afoul of the democratic principles that define the NATO alliance.
I know the President does not like to stand up for democracy at home or abroad, but I hope this meeting will be different in that he will finally come to understand what was clear to so many Presidents before him--Republican and Democratic alike--that how a leader treats his own people is indicative of how they will act on the world stage. An authoritarian at home is an authoritarian abroad, and both should matter to the United States.
Question No. 7: Will President Trump ignore the violent attacks by Erdogan's security detail in 2017 against peaceful protesters and DC police? The last time Erdogan visited in 2017, his goons did just that, resulting in criminal charges against more than half a dozen members of his security detail.
During his meeting, President Trump should insist that Erdogan hand over those guards implicated in the 2017 attacks. It is clear that Erdogan's visit will again attract demonstrators and rightfully so. While Erdogan may not believe in the right of peaceful protest in his home country, I hope Erdogan learned his lesson that here in the United States the right to peaceful assembly is enshrined in our Constitution and is core to our democracy. I hope President Trump clearly reminds him of this fact.
Question No. 8: Will President Trump accept efforts by Turkey to convert Hagia Sophia, which was the largest Greek Orthodox Church in the world for more than 1,000 years, into a mosque? Will he advocate for the religious freedom of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who continues to work and live under pressure from the Turkish Government? I hear a lot about religious freedom. Well, this is one glaring example where the administration has been silent.
Question No. 9: Will President Trump ignore Erdogan's violation of the U.N.'s arms embargo on Libya? Now, to be fair, Turkey is not the only country funneling weapons to clients in Libya in clear violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1970, but the grinding, protracted conflict heightened by these weapons is destabilizing North Africa and allowing for the trafficking and exploitation of desperate migrants and refugees.
Will President Trump call on all outside powers, including Turkey, to engage in Libya with diplomacy rather than weapons transfers and to encourage the warring parties to find a political solution to the conflict?
Finally, Question No. 10: Will President Trump call out Turkey's relationship with Hamas, the Palestinian organization that continues to terrorize Israel on a daily basis? Will he stand by our ally Israel or will his personal interest and affinity for strong men win out once again?
The President says he wants to put America first. Yet on every one of these 10 issues, the President has cowered to the demands of Ankara and Moscow.
Look, President Trump can meet with Erdogan--that is his decision and his prerogative--but on these and so many other issues, President Trump's actions do not represent the values of the American people or their representatives in Congress. He does not represent those who support holding Russia accountable. He does not represent those who stand against war crimes in Syria. He does not represent those who want to see a democratic Turkey.
Despite our objections, President Trump will welcome Erdogan to the Oval Office. At the same time, it is worth pointing out that so many months into the controversy surrounding Ukraine, President Trump has yet to set a date for an Oval Office meeting with Ukraine's President Zelensky.
President Zelensky is a true friend to the United States on the frontlines of the struggle for democracy in his country. He is standing up to Russian aggression and corruption. He is respecting the free press. He is working to strengthen democratic institutions. President Zelensky is everything that President Erdogan of Turkey is not. Yet it is Turkey that President Trump continues to admire and Ukraine that he continues to demonize.
Something is wrong here. Something is wrong. We should not have to cross our fingers and hope that any American President stands up for our values, holds our adversaries accountable, and does the right thing when it matters most. It should not be a question. It should be a given. Yet all I can do at this time is hope that President Trump will reverse course and challenge the bad behavior of an authoritarian like Erdogan rather than celebrate it.
With that, I yield the floor.
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