TURKEY TO US: DON’T JEOPARDIZE TIES OVER ARMENIAN BILL
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Oct 8 2007
Senior Turkish officials have warned the US capital over probable
calamitous consequences of the US Congress’ passage of a resolution
supporting Armenian allegations of genocide at the hands of the
Ottoman Empire, saying that such a move would lead to irreparable
damage in bilateral relations between the two NATO allies.
The US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs will vote
tomorrow on Resolution 106, which calls on the US president to ensure
that the "Armenian genocide" is reflected in US foreign policy. The
measure is widely expected to clear the committee, which will pave
the way for its introduction onto the House floor. House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi can, in theory, block the measure, but few expect she
will do so, given her open support for the genocide allegations and
pre-election pledges to work for congressional acknowledgement of
the charges.
Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, in a letter sent to US Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates, urged the US administration to prevent adoption
of the resolution, the Defense Ministry Secretariat-General announced
on Monday in a written statement. "Deeply rooted relations between
the two countries, which are being conducted within the framework of
friendship and cooperation, will be taken hostage by the adoption of
the resolution," Gonul told Gates in his letter.
"It will be difficult to keep under control dynamics that will be
triggered by the Turkish people’s reactions, thus adoption of the
resolution will serve the interest of neither Turkey nor the US,"
Gonul also said.
Meanwhile, a senior member of the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AK Party) was quoted on Monday as saying that Turkey might
cut logistics support to US troops in Iraq if the US Congress backed
the resolution. "Don’t accept this resolution. If you do, we will
be obliged to do many things we do not want to do," AK Party deputy
leader Egemen Baðýþ was quoted as saying by the mainstream Hurriyet
daily on Monday. "For example, the Americans depend on Turkey for a
large part of their logistical support in Iraq. We would be obliged
to cut this support," he was also quoted as saying.
Baðýþ leads a group of Turkish lawmakers who on Monday headed
to the United States for talks with members of Congress about the
resolution. The group includes the main opposition Republican People
Party’s (CHP) Þukru Elekdað and the Nationalist Movement Party’s
(MHP) Gunduz Aktan, who are both retired ambassadors.
Ahead of their departure from Ýstanbul, Baðýþ, nevertheless, clarified
his remarks and said: "Needless to say, there are a lot of options
before Turkey. But to make a decision on which one is to be chosen is
not my responsibility or duty. The Hurriyet daily illustrated some
of the possible scenarios." The Turkish government has many times
urged foreign countries, including the United States, not to pass
such resolutions, saying historians, not politicians, should judge
historical events.
Last year, Turkey froze military and some commercial cooperation
with France after the French National Assembly backed a bill that
would make it a crime to deny the Armenian genocide, although the
bill never became law.
US forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan get many of their supplies
via the Ýncirlik military base in southern Turkey.
Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry announced also on Monday that the
ministry sent letters to US defense sector companies with which
the ministry has been conducting joint projects and urged them to
contribute to efforts for preventing adoption of the resolution.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan had already raised Turkey’s
concerns with US President George W. Bush in a telephone conversation
last Friday. The Bush administration is opposed to the bill, but
Congress is now dominated by its Democratic opponents.
–Boundary_(ID_ygwiTEJzgesbi4yqfFBwVQ) —
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress