SpaceX Shouldn’t Ignore the Bloodshed Its Turkish Payloads Enable – The National Interest Online

SpaceXthe private spacecraft company founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk nearly two decades agoinauguratedthe new year by launching TurkeysTrksat5A communications satelliteinto orbit on January 7.Turkish presidentRecepTayyipErdoansaid that the satellite, placed into geosynchronous orbit, wouldallow Turkey to broadcastacross Europe, the Middle East, much of Africa, and the Black Sea.

Trksatisbotha state-owned company and the only communications satellite operator in Turkey.The Turkish governmentawardedSpaceXthe contract to launch both theTrksat5Aand 5B satellites after Muskmet withand lavished praise uponErdoanin a November 2017 meetingbetween the two billionaires.SpaceXhasslatedthe 5B satellite launch for November 2021.

Musk should walk away from the contract.To believe that the Turkish governments goal with its satellite network is to expand broadcastingor simply to improve communications is nave.BoththeHellenic American Leadership Counciland the Armenian National Committee of Americahavewarnedthat theTrksat5B has military implications. They are notcrying wolf.

TheTrksatsatellites can enable Turkeys burgeoning drone program to navigate farther with greater accuracy. Turkey (alongside Israel)provided unmanned aircraftand perhaps targeting information as well in support of Azerbaijans assault on Nagorno-Karabakh, a largely Armenian-populated regionthathas been the subject of dispute between the two for more than a century. The Azerbaijani surprise attacktimed to coincidewith the one-hundredthanniversary of the Ottoman invasion of independent Armenia against the backdrop of thegenocidebegan with simultaneousdrone bombardments. While Azerbaijanis, who benefit fromcaviar diplomacy,say that Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to thembased on Josef Stalins1920s-era gerrymanderingof regional borders, the reality is that Azerbaijan had committed under the terms of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europes Minsk Group to negotiate an end to the dispute diplomatically. Indeed,Baku received American assistance under aFreedom SupportActSection 907 waiverbased on the finding that it would not seek to use military force topursue itsdiplomatic or territorial aims. Additionally,AzerbaijanistrongmanIlhamAliyevincreasinglysoundslike Saddam Husseindue tohisclaims on the territory of neighboring statesandacts like him given that he is holding prisoners of war indefinitelyandattacking his neighbors territory. Thismakes it more likelythatTrksat5Bwill enable bloodshed and ethnic cleansing.Musk may want to ignore the fact thatAliyevhas claimed the Armenian capitalof Yerevan as his own, but there will be no cleansing of the blood on his hands if he andSpaceXenableErdoanandAliyevto turn their words into action.

This is not simply an Armenian issue.Erdoanhas constructeda Turkish drone basein occupied northern Cyprus, which extends the range of Turkeys drones. ThisputsEgypt, Lebanon, Israel, Greece and Libyawithin the flightrange of the drones.Also, Americans and Europeans working in the Eastern Mediterranean gas industry will be within that flightrange.The satelliteSpaceXplans to launch in November will allowTurkey to overcome the challenges of crossingover blue water or navigatingpoor weather. It alsoincreases the likelihood thatErdoanmight deploy such technology.This is more than supposition.After all,Erdoanhas already gone through the trouble ofconstructing what the Turkish government calls theGeitkaleAir Base, which is more commonly known asLefkonikoAirport.

Erdoanmay have charmed Musk in the same way he once charmed George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump; or perhaps Musk simply looks at the launch as a good business opportunityforSpaceX. Still,there is no escaping the fact that to launch theTrksat5Bisto potentially beas complicit in bloodshed and repression as those companies who enable Communist Chinas ongoing genocide against the Uighurs.

Muskmaynot care, but the White House and Congress should care giventhe American components incorporated into thesatellitesand President Joe Bidens rhetoric of human rights. Perhaps it is time for the Biden administrationand Republicansto join and tellSpaceXto scrap its business withTrksator risk its more lucrative contracts with the U.S. government.

Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. You can follow him on Twitter: @mrubin1971.

Image: Reuters

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SpaceX Shouldn't Ignore the Bloodshed Its Turkish Payloads Enable - The National Interest Online