Turkish Daily News: "Armenian, Greek lobbies unite to block missile sale to Turkey"

Armenian and Greek lobby groups have joined forces in the U.S. Congress to block a planned sale of cruise missile systems by the Pentagon to Turkey, saying the transfer of these weapons would further deteriorate the military balance on Cyprus and claiming that Turkey could threaten Armenia with those missiles.

Four key lawmakers with the Armenian and Greek lobby groups at the U.S. House of Representatives opposed the deal in a joint letter they sent to the chairmen and ranking members of the House's armed services and international relations committees.

Michael Bilirakis, a Florida Republican, and Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, co-chairpersons of the Hellenic Caucus at the House; and Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat, and George Radanovich, a California Republican, two leaders of the Armenian Caucus, urged the Congressional leaders to reexamine the missile sale.

The move came one day before a two-week period following the U.S. Department of Defense's notification of Congress on the planned transfer expired. The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on April 28 that it had notified Congress of the intended sale to the Turkish Air Force of 50 AGM-84K air-to-ground SLAM-ER missile systems worth up to $162 million.

The Armenian National Committee of America, a U.S. Armenian group, also joined the four lawmakers' initiative to prevent the missile sale, with the organization's executive director Aram Hamparian saying, "Neither U.S. interests nor American values are served by providing advanced offensive weapons" to Turkey.

"There are no safeguards in place to ensure that the transfer of these advanced new weapons to Turkey will not be used to threaten Armenia," the letter said.

/www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/