Cicilline Statement on U.S. Halting F-35 Sales to Turkey

WASHINGTON – Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) Chair David N. Cicilline (RI-01), who introduced bipartisan legislation last year to stop further sales of F-35 joint strike fighters to Turkey, issued the following statement today:

“Erdogan is a brutal thug. Under his leadership, Turkey has moved further and further away from the democratic values that have formed the basis of the modern U.S.- Turkey relationship. I’m pleased to learn that we are taking this commonsense step to ensure the integrity of our American military systems . This step should have been taken a long time ago as President Erdogan spearheaded efforts to quash dissent, disable democratic institutions, target minorities inside Turkey and allow his staff to assault American protesters outside their Embassy in DC. I hope this is just the first step in reevaluating the U.S.-Turkish relationship and whether we continue to share values and priorities.”