GuL WARNS BUSH OVER ARMENIAN VOTE
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Oct 10 2007
President Abdullah Gul has written to US President George W. Bush,
warning of damage to bilateral ties if Congress backs a resolution
supporting Armenian claims of genocide, his office said yesterday.
"Our president thanked President Bush for his initiatives [to stop
the resolution] and drew attention to serious difficulties that will
arise in bilateral relations if it is approved," the statement said.
The US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs
is expected to vote for the resolution on Wednesday, and House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a known supporter of the Armenian cause,
could then decide to bring it to the House floor for a vote. The
Bush administration is opposed to the resolution, but Congress is
now dominated by its Democratic opponents. A senior lawmaker of the
ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Egemen Baðýþ, said
in Washington that the resolution, which calls on the US president to
ensure that the alleged genocide is reflected in US foreign policy, was
a source of "pain and distress" for all US officials who acknowledge
the importance of Turkish-US relations and warned Congress that passage
of the measure would deal a heavy blow to Turkish-American ties.
Baðýþ, who is having talks with US Congressmen on a lobbying visit
to Washington together with two opposition lawmakers, said the
resolution, which he called an initiative by "bigot, racist and
nationalist elements" to exploit weaknesses of the US Congress,
should be sent where it belongs — the waste bin. "This is why we
are in Washington," he said.
Baðýþ was quoted earlier this week as saying that Ankara might
cut logistical support to US troops in Iraq if Congress backs the
resolutions, but he later appeared to backtrack on his remarks, saying
it was not up to him to decide which option Turkey should use in the
event the resolution is passed. The bulk of supplies for troops in Iraq
pass through Turkey’s Ýncirlik airbase. US firms could also be blocked
from winning defense and other contracts if the resolution passes.
Turkey, a NATO ally of Washington, strongly rejects the Armenian
position that up to 1.5 million Armenians suffered genocide at the
hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I. Ankara says many Muslim
Turks as well as Christian Armenians died in inter-ethnic conflict as
the Ottoman Empire collapsed. "Somebody should tell the Congressmen
what the US would lose in the Middle East and Central Asia if Turkey
is lost," Baðýþ said in an interview with the Anatolia news agency.
"If it passes, the resolution will remain a non-binding piece of paper,
but it will break the Turkish people’s hearts. If it is not passed,
that means common sense prevails. Then a new process will begin for
wide cooperation, as well as for justice, development and democracy."
Baðýþ also called on American Jews to help. "It is time for all
friends of Turkey to extend contributions," he said. "Turkey will
never forget help extended in difficult times."
The Jewish lobby in the United States has traditionally allied itself
with Turkey, but Ankara was disappointed when an influential US Jewish
group, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), revised its long-held stance
in August and said the World War I events amounted to a genocide of
Armenians. Since then, Turkish officials have warned that passage of
the Armenian resolution in the US Congress would harm Turkish-Israeli
relations as well.
In an interview published in The Jerusalem Post yesterday, Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan said the widespread perception in Turkey is that
US Jewish organizations have linked up with Armenian groups to "defame"
and "condemn" Turkey and warned passage of the resolution would damage
Turkish-Israeli ties. "All of a sudden, the perception in Turkey right
now is that the Jewish people, or the Jewish organizations, let’s say,
and the Armenian diaspora, the Armenian lobbies, are now hand-in-hand
trying to defame Turkey and trying to condemn Turkey and the Turkish
people," Babacan said. "This is the unfortunate perception right now
in Turkey. So if something goes wrong in Washington, it inevitably
will have some influence on relations between Turkey and the US,
plus the relations between Turkey and Israel as well."
He did not spell out what specifically he expected from Israel, other
than to say, "What we have done is told them the problems, and it is
up to them to decide what to do and how to help the situation."
The Jerusalem Post also said Israeli officials in recent days have
been in contact with key US congressional officials regarding the
issue, briefing them on possible ramifications of the resolution on
Turkish-Israeli ties.
Babacan did not answer directly whether he believed the American Jewish
organizations were in cooperation with the Armenian organizations to
defame Turkey. But, in reference to the ADL’s recently well-publicized
reversal on the matter, he said: "If we see that, that Jewish
organizations are deliberately and in a very comfortable way using
the word genocide in a statement, this is a problem for us. This
offends Turkey."
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