For Immediate Release

202.483.6444

July 24, 2000

WAGGERS Will Protest Sale of Copters

As US Gears to Sell Killing Machines to Turkey

A Washington, DC based activist group known as the Washington Activists Group (WAG) will protest the Clinton administration's decision to comply with the Turkish government's request for 145 attack helicopters on July 25, 2000, in front of Union Station within steps of the US Capitol. The demonstration will start at 5:30 p.m. and last for about an hour.

Known for their theatricals, the activists will have a larger than life size puppet of President Clinton with one hand holding a moneybag while his other hand will carry a sign that will read: "Choppers Kill Kurds, I Don't!" The sign hanging from his neck will say: "Arms Pusher."

Last Friday, the Turkish government announced to the world that they had reached an agreement with Bell Textron, a US based company for the production of 145 copters for $4 billion. The Clinton administration has expressed its decision to support the deal, but the contract needs the approval of both houses of the US Congress.

The activists intend to reach the staffers who work on the Capitol Hill with flyers denouncing the sale and urging them to block it with the help of their bosses.

"Turkey has one of the worst records of human rights violations in the world. Many of the atrocities have been committed with the help of U.S. made weapons. With the help of American made copters, Turkish troops have thrown Kurdish civilians to their deaths and bombed Kurdish villages with their missiles. This is well documented by Amnesty International and other human rights groups," said Michael Beer, director of Nonviolence International and a member of WAG.

People in the human rights community, arms control groups, and friends of Kurds are expected to join the members of WAG in front of the Union Station.