TURKEY, GOP WARN AGAINST VOTE ON GENOCIDE
By Sean Lengell
Washington Times, DC
Oct 15 2007
House Democratic leaders say they will insist on a floor vote on a
resolution calling the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
"genocide," despite Turkish leaders saying it will seriously hurt
relations and Republican warnings that the measure is "the most
irresponsible" action Congress can take.
"This resolution is one that is consistent with what our government
has always said about what … happened at that time," House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi said yesterday on ABC’s "This Week."
"I said if it passed the [House Foreign Affairs Committee] that we
would bring it to the floor," she said.
But yesterday, Turkey’s military chief said the committee’s action
last week had already harmed U.S. ties with Turkey, which grants the
U.S. use of its airspace and bases in its country to help fight the
war in Iraq.
"If this resolution passed in the committee passes the House as well,
our military ties with the U.S. will never be the same again," Gen.
Yasar Buyukanit told the daily Milliyet newspaper. "I’m the military
chief; I deal with security issues. I’m not a politician. [But]
in this regard, the U.S. shot its own foot."
The issue is highly sensitive in Turkey, where it is a crime to
describe the Armenian killings as genocide. Turkey recalled its
ambassador to the U.S. after the committee vote and has threatened
further retaliation.
The top House Republican said the resolution "may be the most
irresponsible thing I’ve seen this new Congress do this year."
"Turkey is a very important ally in our war against the terrorists –
in a very strategic location in the world," House Minority Leader
John A. Boehner of Ohio said yesterday on the "Fox News Sunday"
program. "They are very upset about this resolution."
Mr. Boehner added that Congress is no place for the issue to be
debated.
"Listen, there’s no question that the suffering of the Armenian people
some 90 years ago was extreme," Mr. Boehner said. "But what happened
90 years ago ought to be a subject for historians to sort out, not
politicians here in Washington."
The Bush administration says the resolution could undermine the U.S.
position in Iraq as it urges Turkey to refrain from any major military
operations in northern Iraq. The Turkish government is planning
to seek parliamentary approval for military operations against a
militant group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, based in the mountains
of northern Iraq.
"I don’t think the Congress passing this resolution is a good idea at
any point, but particularly not a good idea when Turkey is cooperating
with us in many ways, which ensures greater safety for our soldiers,"
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said
yesterday on "This Week."
But Mrs. Pelosi denies the measure will permanently weaken diplomatic
relations with Turkey or put U.S. troops at risk.
"I think our troops are well-served when we declare who we are as a
country and increase the respect that people have for us as a nation,"
she said, dismissing the possibility of Turkish retaliation as
"hypothetical."
The California Democrat said the resolution will be brought to the
House floor for a vote by mid-November.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Congress has a moral
obligation to formally condemn one of the worst atrocities of the
20th century.
"If we forget what has happened, if we paper over what has happened,
then we are at risk of letting it happen again," said the Maryland
Democrat yesterday on Fox. "The issue of genocide is a very urgent
and present issue. It’s happening in Darfur now. It happened in
Bosnia not too long ago. And the world sat by and watched." Darfur
is a region of western Sudan.
Mr. Hoyer said the resolution would likely pass the House. "It passed
out of committee 27 to 1, closer than I think it would have been,"
he said.
About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through
Turkey, as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military
there. U.S. bases also get water and other supplies carried in by
Turkish truckers who cross into Iraq’s northern Kurdish region.
C-17 cargo planes fly military supplies to U.S. soldiers in remote
areas of Iraq from Turkey, avoiding the use of Iraqi roads vulnerable
to bomb attacks. U.S. officials say the arrangement helps reduce
American casualties.
~U This article is based in part on wire service reports.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
