BUSH ADMINISTRATION WILL DO EVERYTHING TO BLOCK THE ADOPTION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
Tatul Hakobyan

"Radiolur"
17.04.2007 14:47

April 24 is near. If the Armenian lobbyist organizations in Europe
and the United States are trying to include bills condemning the first
genocide of the 20th century in the agenda of parliaments, Turkey is
taking every step to prevent it in every way possible. Official Ankara
today is no ready to regret for 1.5 million Armenians slaughtered in
the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923. Moreover, it upholds the denialist
policy.

President of the Labor Party of Turkey Dogu Perinjek, who was
charged 4 000 Euros for the expression "The Armenian Genocide is an
imperialistic lie," continues his activity. Together with hundreds of
other deniers he participated in the conference titled "Against the
lie of the Armenian Genocide," initiated by the Secretary General of
the "Talaat Pasha" Commission Ferit Ilsever.

This organization intends to clarify to France that the parliament
of that country has behaved incorrectly, adopting the resolution
envisaging criminal punishment of denying the Armenian Genocide.

It’s not accidental that that Turks have chosen France as a target.

Presidential elections are expected in this influential European
country, and two of the candidates have assured that in case they
are elected they will ratify the bill criminalizing the denial of
the Armenian Genocide.

The voting on the bill in the Senate will, most probably, take place
after the parliamentary and presidential elections, Chairwoman of
the European Armenian Federation Hilda Tchoboyan declared in Yerevan
recently.

The last group of parliamentarians made up of deputies from the ruling
and opposition parties departed for the United States over the weekend
to lobby against a resolution recognizing the killings of Armenians
as genocide.

Speaking to reporters before departure, YaÅ~_ar YakıÅ~_ of the
Justice and Development Party (AKP) said they would seek support in
Washington against the resolution

Publisher of the California Courier weekly Harut Sasunyan noted
in a phone conversation with "Radiolur" that despite the fact that
the Turkish Government has undertaken all the measures, the number
of supporters of the resolution is increasing. Sasunyan said the
resolution has no force of law.

It has a moral value.

Will the resolution be put on Congress agenda before April 24? Harut
Sasunyan said it is hardly possible unless extreme measures are
taken. These measures can be taken by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Recently the Speaker of the House of Representatives was criticized
by the White House for visiting Syria and holding negotiations with
President Bashar Asad. Therefore, it is hard to anticipate that at
this point Nanci Pelosi will support the Congressmen’s initiative to
include the issue in the agenda.

"Nansi Pelosi has made no public statement after being elected, but
we know that for 20 years she has had a pro-Armenian position. On the
other hand not only Turks, but also the White House, the Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are
exerting pressure on her. Even in case this resolution is delayed
because of the presidential elections in Turkey, it’s not excluded
that the bill will be included in the agenda in a few months.

Let us remind that a month ago another group of Turkish
parliamentarians met with US Deputy Secretary of State Nicolas
Burns. The latter had declared that the Bush Administration would do
everything to block the adoption of the resolution.

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