TURKEY RECALLS ITS US AMBASSADOR OVER ARMENIA GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
Voice of America
Oct 11 2007
Turkey has recalled its ambassador in Washington for consultations
after a U.S. congressional panel passed a resolution describing the
early 20th century massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.
The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee passed
the non-binding resolution Wednesday in a vote of 27-21. It now goes
to the 435-member House for a full vote.
President Abdullah Gul, 26 Sep 2007 Turkey denounced the resolution,
saying in a statement that it is unacceptable that the Turkish nation
has been accused of a crime that it never committed. Turkish President
Abdullah Gul accused the lawmakers who voted in favor of the measure
of ignoring common sense in favor of petty politics.
The White House says U.S. President George Bush is disappointed about
the vote.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said Turkey is playing a critical
role in the war on terror, and the action is problematic for everything
the U.S. is trying to do in the Middle East. He said it will "cause
grave harm" to those efforts.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian welcomed the resolution, saying
he hopes it will lead to full recognition by the U.S. of the genocide.
The White House called on lawmakers to focus on domestic agenda items
instead of debating the Ottoman Empire.
Armenians accuse the Ottoman Turks of killing 1.5 million Armenians
from 1915 to 1923 in systematic deportations and killings to drive
them out of eastern Turkey.
Turkey rejects that a genocide occurred. It calls the death toll
exaggerated, and says a large number of people died in civil unrest
during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.