ABC Transcripts (Australia)
October 12, 2007 Friday 12:25 PM AEST
SHOW: The World Today 12:25 PM AEST ABC

US congressional resolution angers Turkey

Jennifer Macey

PETER CAVE: Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Washington in
protest at a congressional resolution describing the Ottoman massacre
of Armenians 90 years ago as genocide.

President George Bush says the vote by the Congressional House
Committee could threaten relations with a key NATO (North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation) figure. And senior members of the Turkish
Government are now talking about banning the US military from using
its air bases, which could have a serious impact on US efforts in
Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jennifer Macey reports.

(Sound of protesters chanting)

JENNIFER MACEY: Groups of anti-US demonstrators took to the streets
of Turkey’s main cities on Thursday to protest against the US
resolution, branding the mass killing of Armenians as genocide.

The Turkish Government led its own protest by recalling its
ambassador to the US. Speaking to reporters outside the Turkish
Embassy in Washington, Nabi Sensoy says he is returning to the
capital Ankara for up to 10 days.

NABI SENSOY: This is a normal affair, especially after certain
important developments take place. So, in this case the Turkish
Government decided that I should go back to hold consultations in
Turkey.

JENNIFER MACEY: On Thursday, members of the Congressional House
Foreign Affairs Committee voted in favour of labelling the massacre
of Armenians in 1915 by Ottoman forces as "genocide".

The non-binding vote is the first step towards holding a vote in the
Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. The vote recognises
Armenian claims that up to 1.5-million people were killed in a
systematic campaign to force Armenians out of what is now eastern
Turkey, and it has been welcomed by the President of Armenia, Robert
Kocharian.

ROBERT KOCHARIAN (translated): We hope this process will lead to a
full recognition by the United States of America of the fact of the
Armenian genocide.

JENNIFER MACEY: While Turkey recognises large numbers of people were
killed during World War One and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire,
it denies that genocide took place.

The Turkish President, Abdullah Gul, denounced the resolution as
having no value to the Turkish people. Ambassador Nabi Sensoy again:

NABI SENSOY: People think that it is only the Armenians who perished
during the events of 1915. They keep forgetting that hundreds of
thousands of Turks also perished during the same events in the hands
of the Armenians.

JENNIFER MACEY: The vote has also been criticised by the US President
George W. Bush who had urged the Congress to vote against the
resolution.

GEORGE W. BUSH: This resolution is not the right response to these
historic mass killings and its passage would do great harm to our
relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror.

JENNIFER MACEY: Turkey is strategically important to the US with the
military depending on Turkish roads and airfields as a base for its
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There’s now a very real threat that Turkey may restrict access to the
US military, a threat that Egemen Bagis, the foreign policy adviser
to the Turkish Prime Minister, was willing to air while in
Washington.

EGEMEN BAGIS: Despite our warnings, US Congress wanted to play
hardball. We know how to play hardball as well. There were claims
that Turkey was bluffing, and I can assure you, they should ask
Canada, they should ask France if we do bluff. We don’t.

Since the French Parliament passed the Armenian resolution in their
Lower House, French military aeroplanes have not been given
permission to enter Turkish airspace. I am not saying that might
happen. I am saying there might be consequences, there will be
consequences, I don’t know what those consequences will be.

JENNIFER MACEY: The Congress vote comes at a delicate time in
US-Turkish relations. The Turkish Parliament is considering allowing
its military to pursue Kurdish PKK (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan)
rebels in Northern Iraq, a move strongly opposed by the US.

Whit Mason is the managing director of the consulting firm, Political
Risk Analysis, and an expert on Turkey. He says this is yet another
diplomatic blow for the country, which is already feeling rebuffed by
the Europeans over their opposition to Turkey joining the EU.

WHIT MASON: It’s not that they would go out of their way to impose
severe sanctions on the US or to come up with an extreme response,
but they have to be sensitive to public opinion, and public opinion
has been radicalised via this feeling that Turkey is being cornered
by the EU and by the US on the PKK issue.

And if yet a third thing were imposed on them, as the Turks would see
it, in the form of this resolution on the Armenian genocide, I think
the Turkish Government would feel obliged to take strong measures.

PETER CAVE: Whit Mason, the managing director of the consulting firm
Political Risk Analysis, ending that report from Jennifer Macey.