wausfpp.org
Since 1950's Turkey has had a succession of elected civilian leaderships with several periods of military rule after coups. Throughout there has been extreme repression of leftists and religious fundamentalists, and genocide against Kurds. Military remained largely out of control of civilians, and military determined much of policy. Funds and weapons supplied by USG. This case takes on added importance in view of the propaganda made since the 2003 US conquest of Iraq regarding Saddam Hussein's alleged repression against Kurds at Halabja. Not only do news texts mislead the reader into thinking that the US opposed Saddam at the time (when actually the US was supporting him), but they also lead you to believe that the US generally opposes oppression of the Kurdish minority, when in fact the US has been supporting very violent and destructive actions against the Kurds in Turkey.
1994: heavy repression of Kurds by Turkey. In same year Turkey becomes world's third largest importer of US military equipment after Israel and Egypt. 80 percent of Turkey's weapons are US, including M-60 tanks, F-16 fighter-bombers, Cobra and Blackhawk helicopters. All are used in Turkey's campaign against Kurdish villages. (Source: Jonathan Randal. 1999. After Such Knowledge, What Forgiveness: My Encounters with Kurdistan. Boulder: Westview Press.)
1995. Total Kurdish people driven from homes: 2.5 million. (Source: Tirman, John. 1997. Spoils of War. New York: Free Press, 265.)
1993-1996 Kurds driven from over 2000 villages, many of which are destroyed (source: Tirman 1997, 259).
1996. Human Rights Watch publishes 171-page report documenting use of US-provided weapons to destroy villages and kill Kurds. Cobra and Blackhawk helicopters are foundation of Turkey's anti-Kurd policy, used for machinegunning civilians and livestock during village demolitions (Source: Tirman 1997, 266).
Domestic politics, USA: Congressional critics of USG's unconditional support for Turkey attempt to sway the Clinton administration's pro-Turkey policy with minimal results. In summer of 1994 ten percent of US aid is "conditioned" on Turkey's treatment of Kurds. Turkey responds by refusing to accept the ten percent under any conditions. Clinton administration defends Turkey's human rights record and declares that US must support "Turkey's legitimate struggle against terrorism." (John Shattuck). An administration insider reports that "[Richard] Holbrooke is cracking heads all over Europe to get Turkey the vote" to enter European Customs Union, being held up by Europeans opposed to Turkey's treatment of Kurds (Tirman 229). [Holbrooke was then Clinton's Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, and later head of the US government-funded "Freedom House" organization, the most-used academic source for rating all countries of the world on scale of "democracy" and "human rights" and a propaganda "flak" organization that attacked the US media for not being patriotic enough regarding its reporting in Vietnam. He has also been US ambassador to the UN.]
...Note: This is how far I got by Oct. 3, 2007. To be continued...