TURKEY IRKED BY U.S. GENOCIDE BILL
Written by The Media Line Staff

The Media Line, NY
Oct 11 2007

Ankara has expressed anger over a decision of a key United States
House of Representatives panel to recognize the Armenian genocide.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said endorsing a measure branding the
killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide was "unacceptable."

The decision has "no validity and respectability for the Turkish
people," Gul said. He accused American politicians of sacrificing
major issues for the sake of domestic politics.

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee passed the
non-binding resolution with 27 votes in favor and 21 against. It
awaits a vote in the full House.

The resolution says the killing of 1.5 million Armenians during
the First World War was a genocide which should be acknowledged in
Washington’s foreign policy towards Turkey.

Turkey denies that the Armenians were killed in a genocide by the
Turks during 1915-1917 in the Ottoman Empire. Ankara insists the
deaths were the result of inter-ethnic strife and the hardships of
the war. Turkey says between 250,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at
least as many Turks died in the civil strife when Armenians took up
arms demanding independence during the war.

U.S. President George W. Bush is unhappy about the vote. He said its
passage "would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO."

Meanwhile, Turkish military and political leaders authorized troops
to cross the Iraqi border and eliminate separatist Kurdish rebel
camps in northern Iraq.

The U.S. is against the measure.

"We don’t think unilateral incursions into Iraq is the best way to
solve the problem," State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack. He
said the U.S. wanted Ankara to engage in more cooperation with the
Iraqi government on this issue.

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