Middle East Newsline, Canada
March 17 2007
U.S. WARNS OF TURKISH BACKLASH
WASHINGTON [MENL] — The Bush administration has warned of a backlash
by Turkey should Congress pass a resolution that blames the NATO ally
for killing more than 1 million Armenians during World War I.
Administration officials have been meeting senior members of Congress
in an effort to block a resolution that deems the Turkish killing of
Armenians in 1915 as genocide. Turkey has warned that such a
resolution would harm relations with Washington.
"Turkey provides extensive logistic support to our troops in Iraq,"
Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said. "This critical
lifeline includes the cargo hub at Incirlik air base through which we
ship 74 percent of our air cargo to Iraq."
In testimony to the House International Relations subcommittee on
Europe on March 15, Fried warned of Turkish retaliation for the
Armenian genocide resolution. He said one prospect was that Ankara
would expel the U.S. military from Incirlik, located in southern
Turkey.
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