Charleston Gazette, WV
Oct 19 2007

Our allies the Turks are gravely insulted by pending bill

John Warner

DON’T ASK me why he lives there. Even if I understood, which I do
not, I could not explain why my `little’ brother and his wife retired
in Turkey and built their dream home in the southern coastal
mountains overlooking a beautiful Mediterranean harbor.

They have long had family ties and personal interests in the
Mediterranean culture and to the world of Islam.

My brother spends about a week in Buckhannon with us every summer,
and we communicate almost daily by e-mail. Recently he has been very
concerned with the movement in the U.S. Congress to make another
enemy in the Middle East – namely, the determination of the
Democratic majority to label events in Turkey back in the early years
of the 20th century as genocide.

It is his belief, based on lots of time spent in southern Europe and
in Turkey, that America has done just about everything possible to
convert our friends into enemies, and this latest move is simply
beyond belief.

Yes, there was a terrible war in the second decade of the past
century. Yes, many things happened that were cruel beyond measure.
Yes, many Armenians were killed, horribly and needlessly. But to go
back and put an unnecessary label on those events, events for which
no living Turk is now responsible, is an absolutely foolish and
self-destructive plan on the part of my beloved Democrats in
Congress. Stop, you guys! Don’t do it! Nancy Pelosi, please redirect
your fellow members.

My brother’s recent e-mails relate a visit with Rep. Steve Solarz, an
18-year Democratic member of Congress – representing Brooklyn – who
has also built a villa in a little harbor town in Turkey. Here are my
brother’s comments:

Oct. 11: `Just back from another late lunch. On Euronews, I saw two
Turks asked if they were surprised by the vote yesterday and both
(who were not together and were interviewed separately) answered
almost identically. No, they were not surprised. America was not a
country anyone could ever count on as a friend. The only difference
between the two answers is that one referred to America as an
`imperialist’ country. Very sad. In what has now been my rather
extensive reading about Turkey, and my experience living here for
four years, one particular thing I have read comes to mind: You can
fight a Turk and still be his friend, but never insult a Turk. You
will never be forgiven. Turks are now absolutely furious at America.
`Hell hath no fury like a Turk insulted.’ If the Armenian resolution
passes in the House, it will surprise me if Turkey does not do
everything in its power to make America pay for it.’

Oct. 12: `Unfortunately, I think it will be all over if it passes in
the House. The Turks are already furious it has passed in committee.
If it passes in the House, I do not think there will be any consoling
them. They will have been insulted beyond their ability to endure
insult. Steve Solarz is pretty sure the bill would never get through
the Senate; but the damage will have been done if it passes in the
House. Turkey will react on that and the rest will have little
meaning to them. A Turk interviewed this evening pointed out that
going back to the Korean War, more Turks have died fighting with
Americans than have soldiers of any other country. This `thank you’
is virtually impossible for the Turks to understand and accept.’

Oct. 13: `Steve tells me that the overwhelming majority of Americans
know nothing about the resolution, and less about what happened to
the Armenians in 1915, but that if they knew all the facts about what
happened then, and the consequences of adopting the resolution now,
they would be against it by large margins. More and more news
articles I read point out that this vote is the result of a very
well-organized Armenian lobby in the U.S.

`With his permission, I add this final comment from Solarz: `If the
resolution passes the House, there is sure to be a tremendous
backlash. The Turkish government will feel obligated to respond in a
way that, without the pressure of public opinion, they would never
do. The consequences will be extreme and long-lasting. If the Turks
decide to restrict our use of Incirlik, the air base from which we
support and supply our troops in Iraq, it could put our forces there
in greater jeopardy than they are at present.”

Warner, professor emeritus at West Virginia Wesleyan College, is a
Gazette contributing columnist.

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