1 month ago
19
A radical of bipartisan House lawmakers are introducing authorities to redesignate Turkey arsenic a Near Eastern state astatine the State Department, alternatively than a European country, arsenic Ankara has moved distant from the U.S. and NATO allies.
The radical of lawmakers, led by Reps. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., introduced the Turkey Diplomatic Realignment Act, which looks to formally determination Turkey’s designation astatine the U.S. State Department from the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs to the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, reflecting Ankara’s deepening ties with Russia, China, Iran, and Hamas, which are fundamentally astatine likelihood with Western information interests.
"Turkey is astatine a crossroads, but Erdogan has made his choice," Schneider said successful a statement.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan connected the sidelines of the BRICS acme successful Kazan connected October 23, 2024. (Alexnder Zemlianichenko/PoolL/AFP via Getty Images)
"His authorities harbors Hamas operatives, props up Putin’s warfare machine, and obstructs NATO unity—while inactive demanding the privileges of a Western ally. It’s clip for American diplomacy to halt pretending that Turkey is inactive portion of Europe," Rep. Schneider added.
Bilirakis said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly acts contrary to American interests, with unsafe behaviour contributing to the instability of the region.
"The clip has travel for authoritative U.S. overseas argumentation to much accurately bespeak the realities of this hostile regime’s behaviour and for Erdogan to beryllium held accountable," helium said successful a statement.
The Turkish authorities took contented with however members of Congress are characterizing its overseas argumentation and European orientation.
"Türkiye’s European individuality is an undeniable humanities and geostrategic fact. As a beardown subordinate of NATO, the Council of Europe, OSCE and an subordinate EU member, Türkiye is portion and parcel of European organization model and cosmopolitan values that these institutions represent," an authoritative from the Turkish embassy successful Washington told Fox News Digital.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (L) and the then-Hamas panic person Ismail Haniyeh (R) astatine the Presidential Complex successful Ankara, Turkey, connected July 26, 2023. ( Mustafa Kamaci/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
"The authorities of Turkey has go a headache for U.S. policymakers. If Ankara maintains its existent trajectory, that headache volition soon go a migraine," Jonathan Schanzer, Executive Director astatine the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee connected Europe during a proceeding connected the aboriginal trajectory of Turkey betwixt the West and the East.
He told the subcommittee that Turkey behaves excessively often similar an adversary, pursuing malign home and overseas policies that alert successful the look of U.S. interests. He cited Turkey’s established way grounds of supporting Middle East violent groups and rogue states, including Hamas and different groups.
He besides said that Turkey utilized its NATO level to undermine American interests. Turkey held Washington hostage by demanding the merchantability of F-16 combatant jets successful speech for its support successful admitting Sweden and Finland into the alliance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) meets erstwhile Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (R) astatine the 16th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Summit successful Tashkent, Uzbekistan, connected November 9, 2023. (Photo by TUR Presidency / Murat Cetinmuhurdar / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Erdogan has deepened Turkey’s narration with Russia and Vladimir Putin during the warfare successful Ukraine, purchasing the Russian-made S-400 missile defence system. And portion overmuch of the NATO confederation imposed stifling economical sanctions connected Russia and looked to determination distant from vigor dependence connected Russia, Turkey maintained adjacent commercialized and vigor ties with Russia.
The projected authorities requires the State Department to reassign Turkey’s diplomatic presumption wrong 90 days and taxable a five-year legislature reappraisal connected the consequences of Turkey’s realignment distant from Europe.
Endy Zemenides, Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council and whose enactment supports the legislation, told Fox News Digital that helium applauds the bipartisan radical of legislators for requiring the State Department to woody with Ankara realistically.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"An honorable valuation of the U.S .foreign argumentation bureaucracy reveals that we person unwittingly granted Turkey a "lobby" wrong aggregate State Department bureaus, the size of which is wholly undeserved by a state that has, astatine best, go "neither person nor foe," Zemenides told Fox News Digital.
English (CA) · 
English (US) · 
Spanish (MX) ·