Congressional Letter Requesting Briefing on Turkish Support of Hamas Sent to Secretary of State & DNI Following AHI Advocacy
No. 106
WASHINGTON, DC - On Thursday, November 21, 2024, 39 Members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines urgently requesting a classified briefing on Turkey’s support of Hamas. This effort was led by Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY). It came following sustained advocacy from the American Hellenic Institute urging Congress to take further action to hold Turkey accountable for their involvement with U.S. designated terrorist organizations.
To read the letter, click here.
For more background on the timeline of Turkey’s growing support of Hamas and on AHI’s advocacy that resulted in the congressional letter, read AHI’s previous press release on the topic here.
The American Hellenic Institute is pleased to see Congress acting on the issue of Turkey’s support for Hamas. This letter is an important first step to addressing this critical U.S. security concern and will ensure policymakers are informed about the true extent of Turkey’s support of U.S. designated terrorist organizations in the region. We appreciate the leadership on this initiative by Rep. Goldman, Rep. Gottheimer, Rep. Bilirakis, Rep. Malliotakis. Additionally, AHI is thankful for the support from Hellenic Caucus Members Rep. Chris Pappas, Rep. Dina Titus, and Rep. Sarbanes and pleased to see the support of Rep. Steve Cohen, Co-Chair of Congressional Caucus on US-Türkiye Relations and Turkish Americans.
AHI is glad to see a congressional coalition forming to address this issue composed of Members from the following caucus:
The Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues
Congressional Hellenic Israel Alliance
House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism
Congressional Caucus on US-Türkiye Relations and Turkish Americans
Additionally, this initiative was supported by:
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
The American Jewish Committee (AJC)
Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA)
Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD)
AHI will continue to advocate for the next steps required to properly address this issue.
The following Members of Congress signed the letter: Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Don Bacon (R-NE), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Grace Meng (D-NY), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Dina Titus (D-NV), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Norma Torres (D-CA), Mike Flood (R-MS), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Nick Lalota (R-NY), David Trone (D-MD), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Max Miller (R-OH), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Zach Nunn (R-IA), Darren Soto (D-FL), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), David Valadao (R-CA), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Wiley Nickel (D-NC), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Brian Mast (R-FL), Susie Lee (D-NV), Don Davis (D-NC) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
The American Hellenic Institute is an independent non-profit U.S. public policy center and think tank that works to strengthen U.S. relations with Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, and promote issues important to the Greek American community.
For additional information, please contact us at (202) 785-8430 or pr@ahiworld.org. For general information about the activities of AHI, please see our website at http://www.ahiworld.org.