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U.S., Turkey shun genocide label

Proposal on killings of Armenians to go before House

Associated Press

October 7, 2007

WASHINGTON

Turkish and American officials have been pressing U.S. lawmakers to
reject a measure this 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
Committee on Foreign Affairs 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 that 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,
Executive Director Aram Hamparian said.

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 B. Schiff, a California Democrat.

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," said 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," said
Hamparian. "We have been saying that Turkey would harm itself more
than the United States if it carries through with these threats."

Copyright (c) 2007, The Baltimore Sun

Source: ocide07oct07,0,4364777,full.story