JEWISH GROUPS LOBBY AGAINST ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’ RESOLUTION IN US CONGRESS
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 26 2007
In a letter addressing influential members of US Congress, including
head of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Relations Committee Tom
Lantos, US-based Jewish groups demanded that voting on congressional
resolutions urging the US administration to recognize an alleged
genocide of Armenians be delayed.
The letter was jointly signed by B’nai B’rith International, the
Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish
Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). The letter included
an annex — a letter signed by the Turkish Jewish Community —
which said maintenance of good relations between Turkey and Israel
and among Turkey, the US and Israel were crucial at a time when the
US faces troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Two separate resolutions are pending at the US Senate and the House
of Representatives, urging the administration to recognize the World
war I era killings of Anatolian Armenians as genocide. Turkey has
warned that passage of the resolutions in the US Congress would
seriously harm relations with Washington and impair cooperation in
Iraq and Afghanistan. The US administration has said it was opposed
to the resolution, yet the congressional process is an independent
one. In his message for April 24, which Armenians claim marks the
anniversary of the beginning of a systematic genocide campaign at
the hands of the late Ottoman Empire, US President George W. Bush
remained adhered to the administration policy of not referring to
the incidents as genocide.
"Each year on this day, we pause to remember the victims of one
of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, when as many as 1.5
million Armenians lost their lives in the final years of the Ottoman
Empire, many of them victims of mass killings and forced exile,"
Bush said. Turkey categorically rejects the claims of genocide and
says as many Turks were killed when the Armenians took up arms against
the Ottoman Empire in collaboration with the invading Russian army.
Bush, in his message, also called for the normalization of ties
between Turkey and Armenia: "Today, we remember the past and also
look forward to a brighter future. We commend the individuals in
Armenia and Turkey who are working to normalize the relationship
between their two countries. A sincere and open examination of the
historic events of the late-Ottoman period is an essential part of
this process. The United States supports and encourages those in both
countries who are working to build a shared understanding of history
as a basis for a more hopeful future," he said.
The Bush administration dismissed its former ambassador in Yerevan
last year after he violated the US policy and called the events
"genocide." Ambassador John Evans was insistent on his stance when
he spoke at the National Press Club in Washington and said Turkey
should accept "historical facts." He also claimed that Turkey’s
efforts had played a role in the abrupt termination of his duty as
the US ambassador in Yerevan.