New Anatolian, Turkey
Jan 18 2007

Armenian genocide resolution circulating this week in Washington

The New Anatolian / Washington with agencies
18 January 2007

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A draft resolution seeking recognition of the so-called Armenian
genocide is likely to be approved by the U.S. House of
Representatives this week, while a top U.S. diplomat in Ankara says
the Bush administration will oppose the draft.

U.S. Ambassador to Ankara Ross Wilson told daily Sabah that President
George W. Bush would strongly oppose any resolution on the so-called
Armenian genocide, adding that he would also warn members of U.S.
Congress against the possible negative outcomes of such a move.

"The Bush administration cannot guarantee that the resolution does
not get adopted, but I think President Bush would strongly oppose
such a resolution, just as President Clinton did in the past," Wilson
said. "The administration will do everything to prevent that
resolution from coming to the Congress floor."

With Democrats taking control of the U.S. Congress following their
election victory late last year, prospects have increased that
lawmakers will approve a resolution recognizing the World War I-era
forced deportation and deaths of Armenians as genocide.

Democratic Congressmen Adam Schiff and Frank Pallone, joined by
Republican Congressmen George Radanovich and Joe Knollenberg, have
recently prepared a draft resolution, expecting more than 150 members
of the House of Representatives to back the draft.

If accepted on the committee level, the draft will then be submitted
to the floor of the House for general approval. The powerful Armenian
lobby is pushing to have a vote occur prior to April 24, which they
recognize as a day marking the "genocide."

Nancy Pelosi, the new Democratic speaker of the House, has in the
past voiced her support for such a resolution.

The Bush administration fears that even congressional debate on the
genocide claims could damage relations with Turkey, a moderate Muslim
nation that is a NATO member and an important strategic ally.

In Washington, Armenian-American groups have been pressing for years
for a resolution on the genocide issue. The House of Representatives’
International Relations Committee last year endorsed two resolutions
classifying the killings as genocide. But the House leadership,
controlled by Bush’s Republican Party, prevented a vote by the full
chamber.

The genocide claim was the key issue as the Senate considered the
ambassadorial nomination of Hoagland to replace John Evans, who
reportedly had his tour of duty cut short because, in a social
setting, he referred to the killings as genocide.

Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, blocked the
nomination over Hoagland’s refusal to use the word genocide at his
confirmation hearing in June. With Democrats taking over the Senate,
it will be even more difficult now for the Bush administration to
circumvent Menendez’s objections.

Turkey strongly opposes the claims that its predecessor state, the
Ottoman government, caused the Armenian deaths in a planned genocide.
The Turkish government has said the toll is wildly inflated and that
Armenians were killed or displaced in civil unrest during the
empire’s collapse and the World War I conditions. Ankara’s proposal
to Yerevan to set up a joint commission of historians to study events
of 1915 is still awaiting a positive response from the Armenian side.