U.S. House may vote to block F-35 sale to Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) has introduced a proposal which would block a pending sale of F-35 jets to Turkey "until the President of the United States certifies that the Government of Turkey is cooperating with the criminal investigation and prosecution of Turkish Government employees involved in the assault on civilians in Washington, DC," reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

Political fallout from the May 16 attacks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s security detail against peaceful protesters in Washington, DC continued into Congressional appropriations season, with the introduction of four amendments - by Reps. Dave Trott (R-MI), David Cicilline (D-RI), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and Don Beyer (D-VA) - to impose sanctions on Turkey.

Rep. Cicilline has been outspoken in condemning the attacks, noting that “this was a particularly brazen act, on the heels of a highly publicized meeting with our President, and one has to wonder why President Erdogan felt so emboldened, that in the bright D.C. sunshine, in front of cameras and hundreds of people, he sent his attack dogs out. As Secretary Tillerson said, this is simply unacceptable.”

Rep. Trott’s amendment would block the proposed sale of semi-automatic guns to Turkey, targeted for use by Erdogan’s security detail. Rep. Trott and Rep. Pallone were recently joined by over 30 House members.

Rep. Rohrabacher’s amendment would prohibit the transfer of U.S. defense articles to Turkey and, instead, make them available to Kurdish Peshmerga forces, who have played an instrumental role in the battle against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).

Rep. Beyer’s amendment would ban Erdogan's security forces who took part in the May 16 attack from securing U.S. visas for future travel to the United States.

These proposed measures - part of over 300 amendments to the National Defense Authorization Bill - are scheduled to be first considered by the House Rules Committee on Wednesday, July 12. Amendments approved by the Committee will then be taken up on the House floor as early as Thursday of next week.