Space X - El Segundo, CA

On October 29th a collection of several west coast based activist groups, with the participation of United States Armenian Council for Human Rights organized a demonstration at the headquarters of SpaceX in Hawthorne, California to request the cancellation of the launching of Turkish Satellites, Turksat 5A and 5B by SpaceX. Satellites which had been publicized with a “commercial & communications” designations, but would be operated by the government and military of Turkey. After consultation with experts from Boeing Defense, Space & Security, it was deemed that Turksat’s 5A and 5B’s commercial use designation were misleading. Records indicating the military use of prior variants (Turksat 4 commercial communications satellite), as well as plans demonstrating the specific signaling modules of Turksat 5A & 5B have led experts to believe that these satellites would expand the effective range of Turkish Bayrakter military drones. Drones which were heavily utilized in the perpetration of war crimes in recent conflicts by the Turkish military complex. Extensive coverage from reputable journalistic sources demonstrated the enormous human rights consequences of the indiscriminate targeting of civilians in Syria, Armenia and Libya by Turkey. Furthermore, Turkey’s direct involvement in the escalation of the military conflict against Armenia by Azerbaijan along with recent provocations against Greek and Cypriot territories have experts worrying about the future intentions of Turkey, and the massive potential for more loss of life. 

The United States Armenian Council for Human Rights coordinated involvement of California Senators, Scott Wilk, Anthony Portantnino as well Assemblymembers Laura Friedmna and Adrin Nazarian to address SpaceX and urge the suspension of SpaceX’s cooperation with Turkey, whose violent intentions and history are apparent.

Although SpaceX had intended to launch Turksat 5A on November 30 from Cape Canaveral, Florida using Falcon 9, the launch date is said to be delayed due to various reasons, which include meteorological conditions and technical launcher requirements. As of the writing of this the launch date is still yet to be determined by Space X.