TURKEY WEIGHS COSTLY RETALIATION ON ARMENIAN RESOLUTION

TREND Information
Oct 15 2007
Azerbaijan

(Todayszaman) – Mutual efforts at the highest level in Ankara
and Washington have failed to prevent approval by a US House of
Representatives committee of a resolution calling the 1915 mass
killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide, leading both
capitals to thoroughly analyze what should be done to control damage
to bilateral relations.

In addition to the problems facing the future of bilateral relations,
Turkey must also cope with the challenge of finding a reasonable way
to respond to the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs decision that
will, in particular, ease the pressure from public opinion that has
been fueled by anger against the US due to its inaction regarding the
terrorist threat posed to Turkey by the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s
Party (PKK).

The ball is now in the court of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who can,
in theory, block the measure. Few expect she will do so, however,
given her open support for the genocide allegations and pre-election
pledges to work for congressional acknowledgement of the charges.

Nonetheless, in the face of growing impatience among both Turkish
officials and the public, the Turkish capital is not likely to wait to
see whether or not the resolution will be sent forward for a vote by
the entire House of Representatives. As of Thursday afternoon, senior
military and diplomatic figures were discussing ways to retaliate in
a lengthy meeting held at the Foreign Ministry in Ankara.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, following long hours
of situation analysis, the Foreign Ministry issued a government
statement in which it clearly warned that relations with the United
States would be damaged by the US House committee’s approval of the
controversial resolution.

The government statement came as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
prepared to ask Parliament, controlled by his ruling Justice and
Development Party (AK Party), to authorize a military incursion into
northern Iraq to fight PKK members using the region as a base.

"The committee’s approval of this resolution was an irresponsible
move which, coming at a very sensitive time, will make relations with
a friend, ally and strategic partner that have been nurtured over
generations, more difficult," the government said in the statement.

"Our government regrets and condemns this decision. It is unacceptable
that the Turkish nation has been accused of something that never
happened," it stressed.

Turkey, which has NATO’s second biggest army and plays a key role in
a volatile region, has warned of damage to bilateral ties and military
cooperation if Congress passes the measure.

The House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs approved
the resolution 27-21. The text says the World War I killings of
Armenians constituted a "genocide" that should be acknowledged fully
in US foreign policy towards Turkey, along with "the consequences
of the failure to realize a just resolution." It now goes to the
House floor, where Democratic leaders say there will be a vote by
mid-November. There is a companion bill in the Senate, but both
measures are strictly symbolic and do not require the president’s
signature.

Ankara said it would do all it could to stop the resolution from
being approved by the assembly.

Ankara rejects the Armenian position, backed by many Western historians
and some foreign parliaments, that up to 1.5 million Armenians suffered
genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I.

Turkey says many Muslim Turks died alongside Christian Armenians in
inter-ethnic conflict as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.