TURKISH CHIEF OF STAFF WARNS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL TO IMPACT TIES WITH USA
Milliyet, Turkey
Feb 12 2007
[Report by Barkin Sik in New York: "Acceptance of Genocide Bill Will
Have Impact on Relations With United States"]
Complaining that to date Turkey has failed to explain to its
counterparts its views on the Armenian genocide allegations and
the Cyprus problem, Chief of Staff General Yasar Buyukanit said:
"We are unable to put ourselves across. Afterwards we suffer for
it. While we are in the right we end up having to defend ourselves
as if we are in the wrong."
Unlike previous chiefs of staff Gen Buyukanit flew to the United
States on a scheduled Turkish Airlines flight yesterday. He spoke
with Milliyet on the plane.
"What Happened In 1915?"
Saying that the Armenian Genocide Bill, which is about to be debated
in the US House of Representatives, had implications for both Turkish
and US national security, Buyukanit said that if the bill were passed
it would harm bilateral relations. Buyukanit continued:
"What happened in 1915? We are unable to put ourselves across.
Afterwards we suffer for it. Armenians who were our own citizens
rebelled against their own country together with the Russians. What
happened on Cyprus? The Greek Cypriots staged a coup. Turkey intervened
using its rights as a guarantor country. We have trouble in explaining
ourselves. We find ourselves on the defensive as if we were in the
wrong even when we are in the right. During my visit to the United
States I will get together with US lawmakers and explain all this
as best I can." When asked whether or not a similar embargo would be
applied to the United States as the one applied to France following
their genocide bill, Buyukanit replied:
"Diplomatic relations change from country to country. It is different
for the United States; it is different for France. Are Turkey’s
relations with the United States exactly the same as they are
with Libya? Diplomatic relations depend on balance. We went through
something similar with France before. The French had won the contract
for an intelligence satellite and the Israelis had lost. But we found
ourselves compelled to cancel the contract. What happened? They lost
the contract and we lost time. We reopened the bidding but we ought
to have a satellite up there now and we do not."