TURKEY PRESSURES U.S. AGAINST ‘GENOCIDE’ BILL
By Jason Motlagh

The Washington Times
World Peace Herald, DC
March 20 2007

Ankara warns it could seriously damage relations

YEREVAN, Armenia — Inside the tomblike confines of the Armenian
Genocide Museum, a haunting narrative of images and words unfolds. A
list is posted at tour’s end of nations that have officially recognized
the tragedy, minus one major endorsement: the United States.

U.S. lawmakers have introduced nonbinding resolutions in Congress
that would declare up to 1.5 million Armenians victims of genocide
at the hands of Turkish forces almost a century ago.

Support is reported to be strong enough in the House to pass the
measure if it goes to a vote; the Senate introduced a similar
resolution last week with 21 co-sponsors.

Historians and analysts here in the Armenian capital say recognition
from Washington is long overdue because evidence validating the case
for genocide is "clear-cut, more than factual, and very obvious."

But Turkey’s priority status as a vital strategic ally in a troublesome
region stands in the way.

"Although Turkey needs the U.S. more, the U.S also needs Turkey
right now … so it’s not realistic to think the government will
formally acknowledge [the genocide]," said Hagop Avedikian, editor
of Azg newspaper.

He noted that every April 24, a day of observance, President Bush
"highlights the genocide and explains it without using the word."

In the past month, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Chief of
the General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit and a parliamentary delegation
have met with U.S. lawmakers and Bush administration officials in an
attempt to derail the resolution.

Mr. Gul was quoted as saying the delivery of a U.S. genocide resolution
would inflict "lasting damage" on bilateral relations.

Such statements were not lost on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who last week wrote a joint
letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and other
senior members warning that the measure would hurt national security
interests.

Passage of the House resolution, they wrote, "could harm American
troops in the field, constrain our ability to supply our troops in
Iraq and Afghanistan and significantly damage our efforts to promote
reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey."

Incirlik air base could be casualty

Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried has warned that Turkey
might respond by closing Incirlik air base, used for operations in
nearby Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Turkish military severed all ties with the French military and
terminated defense contracts after the French National Assembly voted
in October to criminalize the denial of genocide.

The Israeli Knesset killed a motion to discuss recognition earlier
this month, fearing a political crisis with Ankara.

Failure to pass the resolution would be "too bad because it could
be a very catalytic moment for rapid recognition by other states,"
said Hayk Demoyan, director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

Several Western countries have recognized the massacre in the waning
days of the Ottoman Empire as a genocide, some making genocide denial
a punishable offense.

An ethnic Turkish politician, Dogu Perincek, received a $2,500 fine
and a suspended prison sentence from a Swiss court on Friday for
calling Armenian genocide an "international lie" at a political rally
two years ago.

The dispute is over whether hundreds of thousands of Armenians who
died between 1915 and 1923 were part of systematic eradication campaign
by Ottoman Turkey.

Armenians contend mass killings and forced deportations amount to
genocide, while the Turkish government insists the deaths were the
result of chaos at the time.