U.S.-TURKEY POLICY, A NATIONAL DISGRACE: TURKEY’S U.S. PAID FOREIGN AGENTS
By Gene Rossides

Hellenic News of America
March 30 2010

U.S.-Turkey policy, in general, is a national disgrace. It involves
several issues: Turkey�s Cyprus invasion and occupation; Turkey�s
threats in the Aegean and violation of Greek airspace; the lack of
religious freedom in Turkey; religious desecration and cleansing by
Turkey in Cyprus; the lack of human and political rights for Turkey�s
20% Kurdish minority, and more.

It also involves Turkey�s paid U.S. agents of influence registered
as foreign agents with the Department of Justice under the Foreign
Agents Registration Act. Turkey has spent millions of dollars annually
on U.S. lobbyists since at least 1980 to get benefits from the U.S.

Congress and Executive Branch and to lobby against passage of the
Armenian Genocide resolution.

Currently on Turkey�s payroll are two former leaders of the House of
Representatives, Dick Gephardt (D-MO) and Dennis Hastert (R-IL). In my
view their acceptance of employment as U.S. foreign agents for Turkey
is a stain on the House of Representatives and a national disgrace for
the U.S. because they have agreed (1) to deny the Armenian Genocide,
(2) to support Turkey�s illegal invasion and occupation of 37%
of Cyprus in violation of the rule of law and the UN Charter;
(3) to support Turkey�s threats against Greece in the Aegean and
violation of Greece�s airspace; (4) to deny religious freedom for
the Eastern Orthodox Christians in Turkey, the protection of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate and the reopening of the Halki Theological
School; (5) to deny Turkey�s 20% Kurdish minority full human and
political rights, and much more.

Dick Gephardt

In 2007, Dick Gephardt, a leading Democrat, who had been a strong
supporter of the Armenian Genocide resolution, when he was in
Congress, sold out and changed his views for $1,800,000 from the
Turkish government.

Since 2007, for millions of dollars annually Gephardt has been the
mouthpiece in the U.S. for Turkey�s denial of the Armenian Genocide
against the near unanimous views of genocide scholars and the broader
academic community. Denying the Armenian Genocide is equivalent to
denying Nazi Germany�s Holocaust against the Jews.

In 1989, he was elected by the Democrats in the House to the number 2
spot as majority Leader. In 1994 he was elected by the House Democrats
as their Leader. The Democrats were in the minority in the House that
year and he was referred to as Minority Leader.

Dennis Hastert

In 1999, Dennis Hastert became Speaker of the House of
Representatives. The Speaker is the third highest elected official in
the U.S. and is third in line to the presidency. He served 4 terms
as Speaker and resigned from Congress in November 2007. Hastert was
first elected in 1986 to the House.

Hastert is noted for his reversal of position on the Armenian Genocide
resolution H. Res. 596 in October of 2000. As Speaker he was supporting
passage of H.Res 596, but in an about-face he withdrew H.Res 596,
introduced by Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA), from the Congressional
docket just 5 minutes before it was due to be considered on the
House floor.

Hastert�s flimsy excuse was that he did it because of a letter from
President Clinton citing national security concerns and implications
of the legislation.

In his subsequent terms as Speaker Hastert became the main obstacle
to getting the Armenian Genocide resolution to the House floor and
became a key apologist for Turkey.

In 2008, shortly after leaving office, Hastert began working as a U.S.

foreign agent for Turkey through the Dickstein Shapiro firm which
is working as a subcontractor under an agreement with the Gephardt
Government Affairs organization.

Gephardt and Hastert join the list of U.S. foreign agents selling
out to Turkey.

Legislation to counter Turkey

I suggest that Members of the House of Representatives can reverse
the damage done to the House by Gephardt, Hastert and others, by
introducing and passing legislation that would prohibit aid of any
kind to any country that hires former Members of the House as U.S.

foreign agents and further would withdraw any and all benefits that
such country presently receives or enjoys from the U.S. Members of
the House should also refuse to talk to any former Members registered
as U.S. foreign agents.

Call and write to your Representative

Call and write to your Representative and (1) ask them to support the
legislation mentioned above; (2) urge them not to speak to U.S. paid
foreign agents registered with the Justice Department; and (3) urge
them to support the Armenian Genocide Resolution H. Res. 252 which
passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 4, by a vote
of 23-22 and urge the leadership of both parties to bring it to the
floor of the House for an up and down vote!

Please remember that the failure of our Congress to pass the Armenian
Genocide resolution would encourage the genocide perpetrators like
the president of Sudan who is currently under criminal indictment.

Gene Rossides is founder of the American Hellenic Institute and former
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury

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