The National Business Review (New Zealand)
October 19, 2007
US weaves tangled web with claims of genocide
by Stuart McMillan
HIGHLIGHT: Turkey s military is now making threats that could hinder
US efforts in Iraq
Reviving memories of events that occurred 92 years ago may further
complicate the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They may also sour
relations within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
The immediate cause is that the foreign affairs committee of the US
House of Representatives has passed a resolution with the wording
that the Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the
Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. There is a strong likelihood that
the full House of Representatives will pass the bill during November.
The leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who sets the agenda, said if
the committee adopted the bill she would put it to the full House.
She is a Democrat and in the last Congressional elections the
Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate.
Turkey has reacted sharply to the move by the foreign affairs
committee and recalled its US ambassador. Turkey s most senior
general, General Yashar Buyukanit, warned that military ties with the
US would be irreversibly damaged if the House of Representatives
adopted the bill. High Turkish government officials have also reacted
strongly against the labelling of the events as genocide and regard
it as an insult.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
