Tag: Turkey

Biden recognizes Armenian genocide

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President Biden on Saturday formally declared that the massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire more than a century ago was “genocide,” a move that is likely to exacerbate tensions with Turkey.

In doing so, Biden is fulfilling a campaign promise and becoming the first sitting president since Ronald Reagan to use the term “genocide” to describe the mass killings that occurred during the 20th century at the end of World War I.

“Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. Continue reading.

Trump silence on Nagorno-Karabakh weighs on Armenian-American voters

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President Trump’s silence on a weeks-long conflict in the southern Caucasus is roiling the Armenian community in the U.S., which is expressing outrage over a lack of action by the administration.

The Armenian American community, which numbers about 1.5 million, has called for the president and Congress to condemn Azerbaijan for an outbreak of fighting last month in the contested territory of Nagorno-Karabakh that they view as part of their historic homeland.

They are further outraged by Turkey’s interference in the conflict and the president’s unwillingness to condemn Ankara. Continue reading.

Congress looks to Mediterranean allies to counter Turkey, Russia

The Hill logoLawmakers seeking to counter Turkey and Russia are investing in new efforts in the Mediterranean region to bolster U.S. allies like Israel, Greece and Cyprus.

Congress passed legislation last week as part of a $1.4 trillion spending package that makes the U.S. a key player in the market for natural gas in the region through a security and energy partnership with Eastern Mediterranean countries.

The measure strengthens military ties with Greece and lifts a decades-old arms embargo on Cyprus, reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the countries and positioning the allies to keep Turkey’s regional ambitions in check. Continue reading

 

Trump offers trade deal, sanctions workaround to Erdogan for better U.S.-Turkey relations

Washington Post logoPresident Trump has offered Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, due to visit the White House on Wednesday, a package of inducements for better U.S.-Turkey relations that is virtually identical to those the administration proposed last month in a failed effort to stop Turkey’s invasion of Syria.

In a new letter to Erdogan last week, Trump told the Turkish president that a $100 billion trade deal, and a workaround to avoid U.S. sanctions over Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system, are still possible, senior administration officials said.

The offer is likely to infuriate at least some of the overwhelming House majority that voted last month to impose sanctions on Turkey over its assault into Syria, and a bipartisan group of senators who introduced a similar bill.

View the complete November 12 article by Karen DeYoung, Missy Ryan and Kareem Fahim on The Washington Post website here.

John Bolton trashes Trump in private speech — and hints Syria pullout was based on personal financial interests: report

AlterNet logoAccording to a new report from NBC News, former national security adviser John Bolton said during a private speech that President Trump’s foreign policy regarding Turkey is influenced by personal interest.

Sources tell NBC News Bolton suggested that Trump’s claims that his business experience allows him to conduct foreign policy more effectively is without merit — saying that real estate and foreign policy are two different things. During his speech, Bolton reportedly criticized Trump for lacking understanding on how foreign policy works.

Read the full exclusive report over at NBC News.

View the November 12 article from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Trump to host Turkey’s Erdogan same day public impeachment hearings start

Bipartisan calls to cancel visit ignored, as experts say Washington still needs Ankara

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be feted Wednesday at the White House despite his attacks on a longtime U.S. ally, his purchase of military equipment from Russia and calls from lawmakers in both parties to punish him.

President Donald Trump and top aides have ignored bipartisan calls to cancel Erdogan’s visit, which is expected to include a joint press conference on the same day public hearings in the House impeachment inquiry begin.

Though largely united against the Democratic impeachment effort, Trump and many congressional Republicans are at odds over what to do after Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria to attack Kurdish forces.

View the complete November 12 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.

Ukrainian lives hung in balance as Trump held up aid

Critical weapons, training held hostage by monthslong freeze on funds

On June 6, Russian-allied forces in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region fired a volley of artillery shells on Ukrainian soldiers based in a rural area, even though Moscow had signed a ceasefire agreement the day before.

Two young Ukrainian soldiers — 28-year-old Dmytro Pryhlo and 23-year-old Maksym Oleksiuk — were killed in their dugout by that shelling in the settlement of Novoluhanske, Ukrainian commanders said at the time. Eight other Ukrainian soldiers suffered concussions and other injuries.

Pryhlo and Oleksiuk were just two men. But the day before, the Russians had killed another Ukrainian soldier. The day before that, they had killed two others. And in the nearly five-plus years before that, thousands more had fallen.

View the complete October 24 article by John M. Donnelly on The Roll Call website here.

Fact-checking Trump’s spin about the ‘great outcome’ in Syria

Washington Post logoPresident Trump claimed a diplomatic victory after Russia and Turkey took control of areas in northeastern Syria previously overseen by U.S. forces, even lifting sanctions on Turkey. Here’s a quick guide to some of the key claims he made during his 15-minute address, in the order in which he made them.

“This was an outcome created by us, the United States, and nobody else. No other nation; very simple.”

Trump is claiming credit for ending a problem that he created. After a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and against the advice of many foreign-policy aides, Trump decided to withdraw U.S. forces from critical positions in northeastern Syria and abandon Kurdish troops that had been U.S. allies. His action was in effect a green light for Turkish-backed troops to invade.

Turkey has long considered elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — who were critical to the defeat of the Islamic State’s caliphate — to be a terrorist threat. To prevent a Turkish invasion, the United States persuaded the SDF to pull back up to nine miles from the Turkish border. In August, the SDF destroyed its own military posts after assurances the United States would not let thousands of Turkish troops invade. But then Trump tossed that aside.

View the complete October 24 article by Glenn Kessler on The Washington Post website here.

AP FACT CHECK: Trump exaggerates scope of cease-fire deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump describes it, the U.S. swooped into an intractable situation in the Middle East, achieved an agreement within hours that had eluded the world for years and delivered a “great day for civilization.”

It was a mission-accomplished moment that other Republican leaders, Democrats and much of the world found unconvincing.

Trump spent much of the past week trying to justify his decision to pull U.S. troops away from America’s Kurdish allies in Syria, leaving those Kurdish fighters vulnerable on several fronts and already reeling from attacks by Turkish forces.

View the complete October 21 article by Calvin Woodward, Hope Yen and Lolita C. Baldor on the Associated Press website here.