TURKEY SHARPLY RAPS US FOR ‘GENOCIDE’ VOTE – SUMMARY
Earthtimes, UK
Oct 11 2007
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has sharply denounced a US resolution
that says the killing of more than a million Armenians by the Ottoman
Empire early in the 20th century was "genocide.""It’s a pity that some
politicians in the United States closed their ears to calls of common
sense and, once again, attempted to make a tool of and sacrifice
important matters for petty tricks of domestic politics," Gul said
in a statement posted on the Turkish embassy’s website in Washington.
The Democratic controlled House Committee on Foreign Affairs voted
27 to 21 Wednesday to call the killing of 1.5 million Armenians from
1915 to 1923 "genocide."
The committee defied a last minute lobbying effort by US President
George W Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence
Secretary Robert Gates who warned that Turkey could restrict routes
to Iraq vital for the shipment of military equipment.
The White House urged Congress on Thursday to not bring the bill to
the floor for a full vote.
The Turks are "a very important ally in the war on terror. And we
are going to continue to try to work with them, and we hope that the
House does not put forward a full vote," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
Gates said that access to airfields and roads in Turkey could be put
at risk if the resolution moves forward.
The resolution will now go to the full House for a vote, but no date
has been scheduled. The US Senate is expected to take up a similar
measure.
"The sad truth is that the modern government of Turkey refuses to
come to terms with this genocide," Republican Congressman Christopher
Smith said.
Bush called the killings one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th
century but said it was up to historical scholarship to determine
whether genocide is the appropriate term, echoing Turkey’s official
position.
Turkey denies that a systematic slaughter of Armenians took place,
saying Armenians and Turks alike were killed in ethnic clashes after
Armenian groups sided with Russia in World War I.
Towards the end of the 19th century, 2.5 Armenians lived within the
Ottoman Empire. During the forced expulsions in 1915 and 1916 alone,
1.5 million Armenians died, according to the Wiesbaden, Germany-based
Centre against forced Expulsions.
Turkey today says only 200,000 Armenians were killed.
Two writers in Turkey who have called the killings genocide – Nobel
laureate Orhan Pamuk and journalist Hrant Dink – have suffered legal
consequences and even death: Dink was assassinated.
To date, more than a dozen countries have condemned the killings as
genocide, including France, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
After French actions last year, Turkey suspended military relations
at the time and cancelled some arms deals with France.
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