Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 16 2007
‘Ýncirlik may be closed if Armenian resolution passes’
A senior US State Department official warned Congress yesterday
against passing a resolution supporting Armenian claims of genocide,
saying the move could result in Turkey closing the Ýncirlik air base
that is used by the US military.
Daniel Fried, the assistant secretary of state for European and
Eurasian affairs, told a hearing of a House Foreign Affairs
subcommittee on Europe that Turkish officials have informed the US
that approval of the resolution could lead to a shutdown of the base
or a restriction on US overflight privileges granted by Turkey. He
also said the US has been informed that Ankara would respond with
"extreme emotion" if the Armenian resolution were approved.
He added that such a step would undercut voices in Turkey calling for
a "truthful exploration of these events in pursuit of Turkey’s
reconciliation with its own past and with Armenia."
In what appears to be one of the strongest appeals to the Congress
from the administration against passage of the resolution, Fried also
said it runs counter to the views of the 60,000 to 70,000-strong
Turkish-Armenian community, which has been warning that the measure
would "raise popular emotions so dramatically as to threaten their
personal security." He added the US fear was that "passage of any
such resolution would close minds and harden hearts."
Last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary
Robert Gates sent identical letters to the speaker of the House of
Representatives and two other senior House members. They contended in
the letters that the security of the US was at risk from proposed
legislation in the House of Representatives that would declare up to
1.5 million Armenians victims of genocide on Turkish soil almost a
century ago.
In the letters, dated March 7, Rice and Gates also said the
resolution could inflict significant damage on US efforts to
reconcile the long-standing dispute between Ankara and Yerevan, The
Associated Press reported on Wednesday. The appeals went to
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and representatives John
Boehner, leader of the House’s Republican minority, and Tom Lantos,
the Democrat who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
A Democratic aide said Pelosi, who controls the House agenda, has no
immediate plan to bring the proposal before the House.
New resolution before Senate
In the Senate, however, Republican John Ensign and Democrat Richard
Durbin presented a draft resolution that, similar to the one in the
House, calls for official recognition of the alleged Armenian
genocide.
The draft had been signed by 21 senators when it was presented to the
Senate on Wednesday.
"The Armenian genocide was the 20th century’s first genocide, a
vicious, organized crime against humanity that included murder,
deportation, torture and slave labor. US clarity on this historical
fact is of utmost importance and long past due," Durbin was quoted as
saying by the Armenian media on Thursday.
Democratic 2008 presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
and Joseph Biden, who are known for their support of the Armenian
diaspora in the US, didn’t sign the draft resolution, though the
Democratic Party’s 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry, along with
Edward Kennedy and Joe Lieberman, did.
The US administration assures Ankara that it is opposed to the
resolution, although it has limited means to convince Congress not to
vote for it.
Turkey categorically denies charges that Armenians were subject to
genocide during World War I and says there were deaths on both sides
after Armenians took up arms and revolted against the Ottoman Empire.
Egemen Baðýþ of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), who is
in Washington with a group of Turkish deputies to convey Turkish
feelings toward possible passage of the resolution in the US
Congress, said that two members of the Congress — Democrat Dennis
Moore and Republican Phil English — have already withdrawn their
support from the resolution.
Baðýþ also said that he was more optimistic than on his last visit to
the US capital eight weeks ago that the resolution would not be
approved by the House of Representatives. "Americans are aware of the
gravity of the situation. They don’t want to lose an ally like
Turkey," he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress