U.S. Kurdish, Hellenic, Armenian communities call for inquiry into Turkish airstrike

PanARMENIAN.Net - Kurdish American, Hellenic American, and Armenian American leaders joined together in calling upon key Congressional leaders to demand that the Obama Administration investigate whether Turkey violated U.S. arms export laws by using American-supplied weaponry in a December 28, 2011, airstrike that killed 35 Kurdish boys and young men along the Turkey-Iraq border, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In a January 10 letter addressed to the bipartisan leaderships of the Congressional committee's overseeing the State Department and Pentagon, the American Hellenic Institute, American Kurdish Information Network, Armenian National Committee of America, Kurdish Human Rights Watch, and Kurdish National Congress of North America called upon the eight chairpersons and ranking members of these panels to request that the Obama Administration officially investigate this potential violation of U.S. law.

In their joint letter, the signatories noted that: "press accounts, in the Associated Press, Economist, Boston Globe, Radio Free Europe, and elsewhere, have reported that this attack was conducted by U.S.-supplied F-16s, guided by aerial drone intelligence."

They stressed that: "In light of these widely reported accounts indicating the possible use of U.S. arms - and in the context of both the horrendous human costs of this particular attack and the history of Turkey's having long used its military arsenal against civilian populations - we call upon you to request that the Administration investigate this matter. We also ask that you request that the Administration submit an immediate public report to Congress on any potential violations of U.S. law in connection with these killings."