U.S. GENOCIDE RESOLUTION TO SPOIL TIES WITH TURKEY – PM ERDOGAN

RIA Novosti, Russia
Oct 16 2007

ANKARA, October 16 (RIA Novosti) – A resolution passed by a U.S. House
committee last week classing the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide
will harm relations with Turkey, the country’s premier said Tuesday.

Last Wednesday the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs
Committee passed the document despite opposition from President
George W. Bush. Turkey is a key NATO ally and a crucial U.S. partner
in Iraq operations.

"The Turkish people are on the verge of losing their patience over
this issue," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. "If
Turkey incurs losses from this, then our opponents will lose ten
times as much. Everyone should realize this."

Ankara insists that the deaths and deportations of Armenians at
the end of the Ottoman period were caused by civil war rather than
deliberate genocide. However, the majority of Western academics
qualify the massacre as genocide.

"We have forgotten nothing and have nothing to be ashamed of in the
face of history. We have opened up our archives. Let Armenia do the
same," the premier said, adding that investigation of the tragic
events must be left to historians, not politicians.

Turkish NTV television channel said on Monday that Turkey might
restrict U.S. use of a joint air base in Incirlik, close off its air
space to U.S. warplanes, and ban Armenian aircraft from flying over
its territory. The majority of supplies for U.S. troops in Iraq,
including fuel and military hardware, pass through Turkey.

Ankara previously froze military cooperation with France after its
parliamentarians passed a similar resolution.