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CONGRESSMAN TOM LANTOS: A FRIEND AND SUPPORTER OF TURKEY CONDEMNING TERRORIST ATTACKS IN ISTANBUL, TURKEY, ON NOVEMBER 15, 2003 (House of Representatives - November 21, 2003) HON. TOM LANTOS This demonstrates, once again, that the target of global terrorists is not just the United States of America, but all those who reject their hateful vision of a clash of civilizations and governments by religious extremism. I thought President Bush in the United Kingdom the other day said it so well when he said, ``I want to express my deep sympathy for the loss of life in Turkey . The nature of the terrorist enemy is evident once again. We see their contempt, their utter contempt, for innocent life. They hate freedom,'' the President went on. ``They hate free nations. Today, once again, we saw their ambitions of murder. The cruelty is part of their strategy. The terrorists hope to intimidate; they hope to demoralize. They particularly want to intimidate and demoralize free nations. They're not going to succeed.'' The Turkish Republic is an example of how a predominantly Muslim country can enjoy a secular, democratic government. Turkey has shown that the Islamic faith of its citizens and a secular democracy can flourish side by side. By targeting synagogues and Turkish citizens of the Jewish faith on Saturday, the terrorists attacked the notion that Muslims can live in peace and harmony with other faiths. It was a profoundly anti-Semitic act. The terrorists know that the successful example of Turkey lays bear the emptiness of their own hateful vision. It is working in Turkey , and yet now they are trying to give a different impression to the world. By targeting the British Consulate General and a leading British bank, these terrorists viciously illustrated that all of our allies and their targets must remain united with our allies in the fight against terrorism. Madam Speaker, these contemptible acts killed almost 50 people, including the British Consul General in Istanbul, and injured more than 750 innocent people. Our deepest condolences go out to their families and to their nations. Turkey has been a strong American ally, as we all know, the underbelly of NATO for more than 50 years. By agreeing to this resolution, we affirm our mutual commitment to that common defense. I would remind my colleagues that after the September 11 of 2001 attacks, NATO invoked its collective defense clause, declaring that the al Qaeda attacks in the United States were attacks against the entire alliance.
THE SCREENING OF THE TURKISH HOLOCAUST DOCUMENTARY ``DESPERATE HOURS'' -- HON. TOM LANTOS (Extensions of Remarks - May 20, 2002) Mr. Speaker, I am honored today to mark a special occasion, the screening of the film documentary ``Desperate Hours,'' the story of Turkish assistance to European Jews seeking to flee the Holocaust. Produced and directed by Victoria Barrett, the film will be shown at 7:15 p.m. in room HC-7 in the Capitol. I am proud to be a co-sponsor of this event. Mr. Speaker, I first visited Turkey as a young man in 1956. My wife Annette and I have returned to enjoy Turkish hospitality many times since. When I first visited Turkey , it was just a few short years after Turkey had made the crucial decision to join NATO, where it has always been a loyal Western ally, first against Soviet tyranny, later against ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, and now against global terrorism. But what most ennobles Turkey for me is Its role as a savior of so many Jews during the two greatest Jewish tragedies of the past millennium, the Inquisition and the Holocaust. During the Inquisition of the late fifteenth century, the Ottoman Sultan Bayezit invited the fleeing Jews of Spain and Portugal to find comfort in his realm. The 500th anniversary of this episode--both sad and redemptive--was marked by Turkish Jews and non-Jews alike in 1992. The documentary ``Desperate Hours'' commemorates Turkey's rarely cited role in that other Jewish tragedy--the greatest crime of the bloody twentieth century--the Holocaust. Turkey's efforts were as important and dramatic as they are little known. Turkey offered refuge to hundreds of Germans--non-Jews as well as Jews--during the 1930s. Its diplomats in France, often without waiting for instructions from the capital, conferred Turkish citizenship on thousands of desperate Jews trapped in Nazi-occupied and Vichy France. In some cases Turkish diplomats, at great personal risk, stared down Gestapo officers to protect their new fellowcitizens, as was the case with the saintly Necdet Kent. All this, while Nazi troops stood poised on Turkey's borders. My wife and I were saved by Raul Wallenberg. I am pleased that the Turkish versions of Wallenberg are at last receiving their due. The intimate links between Turks and Jews continue, of course, to this day. A community of some 25,000 Jews thrives in contemporary Turkey . Tens of thousands of Turkish Jews living nearby in Israel cherish their links to Turkey . All of this is a testament to the Muslim-Jewish friendship that has been a hallmark of the Turkish historical experience. In recent times, Turkish-Jewish friendship has been enriched and deepened by the close relations Israel and Turkey have forged in recent years. Journalists have focused on the security relationship--and that indeed is important--but the non-security aspects of this relationship are growing even more rapidly: burgeoning commercial trade now worth over a billion dollars a year, Israeli tourists by the hundreds of thousands flocking annually to Turkey , and a vibrant intellectual exchange between Turkish and Israeli universities. No other Muslim society rivals Turkey's record regarding the Jews; in fact, few societies of any type anywhere in the world do. I congratulate my dear friend former Ambassador Baki Ilkin, who so strongly supported this documentary project, and my dear friend the current Turkish ambassador Faruk Logoglu. I strongly commend all those associated with the film ``Desperate Hours'' for helping to elucidate and publicize one of the most important chapters in the long, dramatic, and mutually rewarding history shared by the Jewish and Turkish peoples.
A TRIBUTE TO AMBASSADOR NECDET KENT OF TURKEY, HOLOCAUST HERO -- HON. TOM LANTOS (Extensions of Remarks - September 30, 2002) Mr. Speaker, it is with deep sorrow that I rise today, after learning of the passing of Ambassador Necdet Kent on Friday, September 20, at the age of 91. Ambassador Kent was a Turkish diplomat who served with distinction at many posts. Between 1941 and 1944, he was posted as deputy consul in the Turkish Consulate-General in Marseilles, France. He used that position to bestow Turkish citizenship on--and thereby save--dozens of Turkish Jews who were resident in France and otherwise lacked proper identity papers to prevent their deportation to Nazi gas chambers. Most of those Jews had left Turkey years earlier with no intention of returning but technically had remained Turkish citizens. Necdet Kent exploited their all-but-lapsed Turkish citizenship to stay their execution and spare their lives. On one occasion, Kent boarded a train bound for Auschwitz after Nazi guards refused to honor his demand to allow all its passengers--some 70 Turkish Jews--to disembark. At subsequent stops, Nazi officials tried to persuade Kent to leave the train, assuring him that its passengers were not real Turks but merely Jews. Kent made clear that he and his nation made no such distinction, and he steadfastly refused to disembark without his fellow citizens. Finally, after an hour of effort to dissuade Kent from his course, the Nazi guards gave up. Apparently cautious not to create an international incident in this instance, the Nazis allowed the stunned Jews to leave the train with Kent and with their lives. Mr. Speaker, Ambassador Kent had an uncommon love of humanity and an even more rare combination of moral and physical courage that saved many Jewish lives during the Holocaust. As a Holocaust survivor who was saved by the great Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, I am constantly mindful that I owe my life to that rare breed of humanity to which Necdet Kent belonged. Although I never had the pleasure of meeting Ambassador Kent, I know from reading his words and seeing him in a documentary released last year that he was a very modest man--excessively so, in my opinion, since his modesty long precluded him from winning the widespread accolades that he so richly deserved. Necdet Kent was so special that he seemed unable to recognize his own extraordinary character. I recall his simple reply when asked how he summoned the courage to defy the Gestapo and board that Nazi cattle car with the 70 Turkish Jews, knowing that he could have been riding to his death. ``I'm a human being,'' he said. ``I couldn't do anything else.'' If only that statement were as true as it is humble, far more diplomats would have had the courage to behave similarly, and countless more lives could have been saved. Happily, towards the end of his life, Ambassador Kent received far more of the tributes and praise he earned, thanks mainly to the aforementioned documentary, called ``Desperate Hours.'' Mr. Speaker, Ambassador Kent leaves this world with the admiration and gratitude of humanitarians, and particularly Jews, everywhere. I avail myself of this opportunity and urge all of my colleagues to join me in expressing deep condolences to the Turkish nation, to Ambassador Kent's family, and to the wider human family to which he belonged, on the loss of one of its noblest representatives--a man who, as a mere deputy consul, truly granted ``visas for life.''
LANTOS COMMENDS TURKISH PARLIAMENT FOR REFORMS, CALLS ON EUROPEAN UNION TO OPEN MEMBERSHIP TALKS WITH TURKEY August 5, 2002. Congressional Human Rights Caucus Co-Chair Tom Lantos (D-Cal) today praised the Turkish parliament for a wide-ranging democratization reform package passed over the weekend. Calling enactment of the package "a victory for Turkish democracy," Lantos labeled reforms allowing for increased use of the Kurdish language "particularly path-breaking" and "courageous." Lantos, who is also Ranking Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, called upon the European Union to demonstrate its appreciation for the importance of the Turkish parliament's action by "setting the earliest possible date for opening membership accession talks with Turkey." The full text of the statement follows: I wish to congratulate the Turkish parliament for passing a package of important democratization reforms this weekend. Reforms that legalize Kurdish-language radio and TV and private-school instruction in the Kurdish language are particularly path-breaking and represent a courageous step toward genuine pluralism in Turkey. This is a victory for Turkish democracy and -- for those like myself who have long condemned separatist terrorism and believed that the Kurdish problem could be solved within the framework of Turkish democracy -- a most gratifying development. The reform package also loosened restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, and association -- facilitating international contacts for Turkish NGOs -- and largely abolished the death penalty. In all, with this action, Turkey makes great progress toward achieving the "highest levels of contemporary civilization," as urged by Turkey's late founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. This dramatic development imposes responsibility on several parties. I call on Turkish leaders to implement the reforms fairly and, following elections November 3, to continue the process of democratic reform. I call on Kurdish-rights activists in Turkey to welcome the new laws as a positive step and as further proof that reform is achievable only by peaceful means. And I call on the European Union to demonstrate its appreciation for the importance of this action by setting the earliest possible date for opening membership accession talks with Turkey at its December summit. Tom Lantos (D-Cal) Co-Chair, Congressional Human Rights Caucus Ranking Democrat, House International Relations Committee
DELIBERATIONS ON ARMENIAN RESOLUTION (H RES 596) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as the only member of Congress ever elected who is a survivor of a holocaust, I yield to no one in my concern for human rights past and present. But I think it's appropriate to ask, as we deal with this issue in the waning hours of this congressional session, as to why this issue is before us today. We all know why this issue is before us. It is before us because a member of Congress, who is in a very close congressional race, persuaded the speaker to put this on the agenda for political reasons. We are not dealing with a human rights issue, we are dealing with a partisan political issue which has been defused by the fact that the Democrat in that race also supports this legislation, which enables us now to deal with the merits of the issue rather than with the politics of the case. This is not a partisan issue anymore, so we can deal with the merits. Now, there is little doubt of the incredible amount of suffering of the Armenian people during this period. And in recognition of that suffering, the president of the United States annually issues a powerful statement recognizing that suffering and paying tribute to the victims. This is as it should be. But of course, serious statesmanship always compels us to look at all the ramifications of legislative measures. And one of the ramifications, of course, the U.S. national interest, not 84 years ago, but in the year 2000. It is self-evident to every single member of this committee and of the whole Congress that U.S. national interest compels us to vote against this measure at this time. There is a long list of reasons why our NATO ally, at this point, should not be humiliated. It will be counterproductive to Turkish- Armenian relations. It will be counterproductive to Turkish-Greek relations. It certainly will be counterproductive to Turkish-U.S. relations. It will be welcomed by Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein will be the prime beneficiary of this legislation. And before my colleagues take the politically easy road, they should ask themselves whether in fact by taking the politically convenient road, they really want to benefit Saddam Hussein against whom our policies could not be pursued with anywhere near the effectiveness without Turkish support. My feeling is, Mr. Chairman, that there is always room for honoring and recognizing past tragedies. But the manner and the mechanism needs to be cast in the context of U.S. current national interest. This piece of legislation, at this moment in U.S.-Turkish relations, is singularly counterproductive to our national interest. I am all in favor of the president's annual declaration. I have spoken on countless occasions memorializing this tragedy. I will not be part to diminishing U.S. national interests to participate in what was intended to be a political ploy in a congressional district in California. That political ploy has now been defused by both the Democrat and the Republican favoring this legislation. Therefore, the merits of the legislation is now before us. On the merits, I urge my colleagues to vote against this legislation
DELIBERATIONS ON THE
ARMENIAN RESOLUTION (H CON RES. 596) LANTOS: …which also strongly opposes passage of this resolution. We, in fact, can do both of these things. We can express our support for the president's statement, with respect to the tragedy of the Armenian people, for which, I am sure, there will be a unanimous vote on behalf of every member of this committee; but at the same time, not impact on our national security, which is clearly involved. The chairman of our Intelligence Committee does not come here frivolously. Former secretaries of state, and chairmen of the Joint Chiefs don't write us letters frivolously. The secretary of state, and the secretary of defense don't write us frivolously. Every single American president, in the last quarter century, opposed this legislation. Every secretary of state did, every secretary of defense did, every chairman of the Joint Chiefs did.
I think it takes an
incredible degree of arrogance for us to sweep all this aside, and to move
now to approve this resolution. After all, it is important for us to
remember that this came to us initially for the purpose of saving a
congressional seat in California.
CO-SPONSORSHIPS 108TH CONGRESS: Title: Condemning the terrorist attacks on Istanbul, Turkey, on November 15 and 20, 2003, expressing condolences to the families of the individuals murdered and expressing sympathies to the individuals injured in the terrorist attacks, and expressing solidarity with Turkey and the United Kingdom in the fight against terrorism. (Date Introduced: 11/19/2003) COSPONSORSHIPS 107TH
CONGRESS
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