Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 24 2007

`Passage of Armenian resolution would hurt projects worth billions’

A Turkish studies expert based in Washington has said if it was
passed in the House, the Armenian genocide resolution would sever the
bilateral ties between Washington and Ankara.
In an article at Washington Times titled "Armenian genocide folly,"
Soner Çaðaptay, director of the Turkish research program at The
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, wrote:
"At this critical juncture of spiraling instability in Iraq and a
resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, the United States cannot afford to
lose Turkey, a major, if underappreciated, partner for U.S.
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan alike."
Recalling that America’s favorability rating in Turkish opinion polls
is at an all-time low of 7 percent, Çaðaptay noted, "By passing the
resolution, the Congress would be passing judgment on Turkish
history, which the Turks would see as the ultimate insult."
A majority of Turks say that the 1915 deportation of Armenians from
Anatolia to Syria in the Ottoman Empire does not constitute genocide,
yet the House resolution will declares the events of 1915 to be
considered a genocide.
Çaðaptay argues that the House resolution would cause a massive
public outpouring of Turkish resentment against the United States and
this would inevitably cripple US-Turkish military cooperation.
"Three-quarters of all air cargo bound for Iraq transits through
Ýncirlik [air base in southern Turkey], and Turkey provides blanket
clearance for military over flights supporting Operation Iraqi
Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. With its
proximity to Iraq, Ýncirlik also helps defray the cost of American
operations there. Six U.S. C-17 cargo aircraft based at Incirlik do
the job of nine or 10 military aircraft based in Germany, saving the
United States $160 million per year."
According to Çaðaptay, the passage of the Armenian resolution would
also hurt US businesses and consumers since Ankara is engaged in
several major defense cooperation projects with the United States,
including the Joint Strike Fighter in which Turkey has $175 million
invested and an expected purchase of 100 jets, and the upgrading of
200-plus Turkish F-16 fighters at a cost of $1.6 billion.
"The Armenian resolution would jeopardize such cooperative projects,
as well as kill a number of pending Turkish defense purchases from
the United States, including the Patriot PAC III Air Defense System
for $1.3 billion, 52 Sikorsky Black Hawks helicopters at a value of
$800 million, 10 heavy-lift Boeing and Sikorsky helicopters worth
$500 million and between 30 and 50 Boeing Apache or Bell Cobra
helicopters worth between $1.5 and $2 billion," Çaðaptay noted.