TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER WARNS U.S. BILL ON ARMENIANS WOULD POISON TIES

AP Worldstream
Published: Feb 10, 2007

A U.S. congressional resolution that would recognize the World War
I era killings of Armenians as genocide would poison ties between
strategic allies Turkey and the United States, Turkey’s Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul warned Saturday.

"Local politics must not be allowed to poison strategic ties," Gul
said on his return from a weeklong visit to the United States, where he
met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other officials.

Gul said if passed, the resolution would cause permanent damage
to relations.

"It won’t have a fleeting effect, its results will be deep and
lasting," Gul said. He did not elaborate.

The congressional resolution, which was introduced for consideration
last month, is opposed by U.S. President George W. Bush’s
administration, but has been supported by the Democratic leadership.

Gul said Bush would write to members of Democratic-controlled Congress
to urge them to oppose the resolution.

Armenians say that Ottoman Turks slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians in
a planned genocide. Turkey vehemently denies that the mass killings
were genocide, saying the death toll is inflated and Armenians were
killed in civil unrest as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.