Turkey, White House Fight Genocide Label

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2007(AP) Turkish and American officials have been
pressing lawmakers to reject a measure next week that would declare
the World War I-era killings of Armenians a genocide.

On Friday, the issue reached the highest levels as President Bush and
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked by telephone about
their opposition to the legislation, which is to go before the House
Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

The dispute involves the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians
during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire.

Armenian advocates, backed by many historians, contend the Armenians
died in an organized genocide. The Turks say the Armenians were
victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the
600-year-old empire collapsed in the years before Turkey was born in
1923.

Armenian supporters of the congressional measure, who seem to have
enough votes to get approval by both the committee and the full House,
have also been mustering a grass-roots campaign among the large
diaspora community in the United States to make sure that a successful
committee vote leads to consideration by the full House.

One interest group, the Armenian National Committee of America, has
engaged about 100,000 supporters to call lawmakers about the issue,
according to Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

Similar measures have been debated in Congress for decades. But
well-organized Armenian groups have repeatedly been thwarted by
concerns about damaging relations with Turkey, an important NATO ally
that has made its opposition clear.

Lawmakers say that this time, the belief that the resolution has a
chance to pass a vote by the full House has both Turkey and Armenian
groups pulling out all stops to influence the members of the
committee.

"The lobbying has been the most intense that I have ever seen it,"
said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Though the largely symbolic measure would have no binding effect on
U.S. foreign policy, it could nonetheless damage an already strained
relationship with Turkey.

After France voted last year to make denial of Armenian genocide a
crime, the Turkish government ended military ties.

Many in the U.S. fear that a public backlash in Turkey could lead to
restrictions on crucial supply routes through Turkey to Iraq and
Afghanistan and the closure of Incirlik, a strategic air base in
Turkey used by the United States. Lawmakers have been hearing
arguments from both sides about those concerns.

The Turkish government has been holding back from public threats while
making clear that there will be consequences if the resolution is
passed.

"There will be a backlash and no government can be indifferent to
that," says the Turkish ambassador in Washington, Nabi Sensoy.

But Armenian groups charge that behind the scenes, Turkey has been
much more clear.

"Turkey has been threatening every sort of doomsday scenario," says
Hamparian. "We have been saying that Turkey would harm itself more
than the United States if it carries through with these threats."

Turkey argues that the House is the wrong institution to arbitrate a
sensitive historical dispute. It has proposed that an international
commission of experts examine Armenian and Turkish archives.

In the meantime, the Turkish embassy has been in close contact with
lawmakers and is using prominent U.S. lobbyists.

"I have redoubled my efforts," says Sensoy. Turkish lawmakers have
also been manning the phones to congressional offices.

According to one congressional aide, Turkey’s military chief, Gen.
Yasar Buyukanit, has been calling lawmakers to argue that a vote will
boost support for Islamists in Turkey. The aide spoke on condition of
anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The Bush administration has been telling lawmakers that the
resolution, if passed, would harm U.S. security interests.

Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said Friday that Mr. Bush
believes the Armenian episode ranks among the greatest tragedies of
the 20th century, but the determination whether "the events constitute
a genocide should be a matter for historical inquiry, not
legislation."

White House staff have also spoken with aides to House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi, D-Calif., in the hope that she will stop the measure from
coming to a vote.

"The administration has reached out to the speaker’s office and made
our position clear," he said. "We’ll see what happens."

By Associated Press Writer Desmond Butler

Source: in3338961.shtml

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress