A draft law banning any transfer of military equipment to Turkey until a report is sent by the US Secretary of Defense (in consultation with the Secretary of State) to the relevant Foreign and Defense Committees of the US House and Senate. National Defense, by the Chairman of the Defense Committee of the American Parliament, Mac Thornberry.
The draft was approved in principle by the Commission, by a vote of 60-1. A discussion of various amendments will follow, while a similar procedure will take place in the Senate.
Although not named, the restrictions apply to sales of F-35 Lightning II JSF and F-16 Fighting Falcons, CH-47 Chinook and H-60 Blackhawk helicopters and Patriot missiles.
The relevant annex 1251 of the National Defense budget bill, entitled "Report on the state of US relations with the Turkish Republic", states: "This annex requires the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, submit a report on US-Turkey relations to the Congressional Defense Committees, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee no later than 60 days after the date of entry into force of this Act. This Annex also prohibits any action to carry out the delivery of foreign military equipment for the sale of large defense equipment under Article 36 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 USC 2761) in the Republic of Turkey until the required report is submitted to the designated congressional committees. " .
The Defense Committee's suggestion comes in addition to a bill being passed in the Senate banning the sale of F-35s to Turkey unless the purchase of Russian S-400 missiles goes ahead and the release of Pastor Branson and other Americans detained in Turkish prisons.
The issue of banning the sale of F-35s was the subject of a joint campaign of the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) and the National Armenian Committee, while last week in the two-day joint enlightenment effort of the HALC and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) 1251 was promoted as an amendment.
"With its inclusion in the text of the President of the Commission, it is now part of the text of a bill and is the basis for any amendments submitted. "In order to remove the specific report, someone will have to fight for it", said the President of HALC, Eddie Zemenidis in a press conference.
As he said, there is still no corresponding branch in the Senate, something that is expected to be promoted soon, while the efforts in the Senate for the bill of the three senators and in the Parliament for the bill of Biliraki - Sitsiline continue.
"Several amendments have been submitted to the draft Law on National Defense related to Turkey. One that asks for the funds given to Turkey to be made available to the Kurds of Syria, another for the transfer of the nuclear weapons located in Incirlik to another location, etc. "What I feel is that, after the inclusion of this reference in the text of the President, the amendments will be withdrawn," he said.
The budget for the National Defense is expected to be approved in about a month, without being ruled out to be completed at the end of May, as it will be presented to the plenary of the American Parliament next week. In this case, not even the two F-35s will be delivered, which while they will be in the US for another year, will be used for the training of Turkish pilots.
Answering questions, Ed Zemenidis said that in order for this restriction on Turkey not to be promoted by the Congress, one of the 3 cases should apply:
Firstly, to have a relevant amendment in the plenary session of the Parliament, something rather unlikely in the case that the President and the leader of the minority in the Defense Committee, Adam Smith, have agreed.
Secondly, there should be no such thing from the Senate, so it is likely that it will not be included in the compromise text.
Third, for President Trump to veto the entire bill, for a variety of reasons, so he will start writing from scratch, something that happened under Obama.