Turkish lobbyists versus Armenian lobbyists: 1-0

De Volkskrant
Dutch daily newspaper

19 October 2007

By our correspondent Philippe Remarque

Background
Turkey¹s lobby has succeeded: the ³Genocide resolution² in the US seems to
be shelved. The Armenians just missed out.

WASHINGTON – What happened to the Armenian Genocide resolution between last
and this Wednesday?

Turkey seems to get its way; this much is clear. But it is not exactly clear
how the resolution got killed. Is it by geopolitical perception of the
American representatives or by a lobby campaign of millions of dollars paid
by Turkey?

Last week the House of Representatives was heading for a resolution calling
up the president ³to recognise as genocide the premeditated annihilation of
1.5 million Armenians² in 1915. A majority of the Foreign Affairs Committee
voted in favour of the Resolution. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House and
supporter of the Armenian case, said at that time that regardless of all
objections made by Turkey and the White House, the resolution would go to
the House floor for a vote.

This Wednesday her passion has disappeared: ³We will have to wait and see if
it will be brought to vote or not². The reason is that a range of
representatives suddenly no longer supports the resolution. One of them,
Doug Lamborn, stated ³Nothing changes the fact that mass murders and untold
cruelties took place. But accepting this non-binding resolution on this
critical moment would have a destabilising effect, now the US need the help
of an ally like Turkey².

And indeed, Turkey is one of the few US allies in the Middle East and is
providing an essential supply route for the American operation in Iraq.
During the past week, the country showed that it is able to further
complicate the situation by attacking the Kurds in Northern Iraq.

So, there is enough reason to follow the White House and the eight former
Ministers of Foreign Affairs in this and not to confront Turkey head-on
because of 1915. But, it is also clear that Turkey lends a helping hand to
the representatives. ³This is what happens if you have to stand against a
very skilled multimillion dollar campaign², stated representative Brad
Sherman.

The Armenians in America are furious about the ³millions of dollars from
abroad that are being channelled into the American political system². They
too have a powerful lobby, with electoral power in certain Californian
districts. But the government of poor Armenia could raise only 300 thousand
dollars for a Washington PR office.

Watch now the Turks. How it works exactly is hard to find out. ³It¹s better
to ask the PR office which is hired by Turkey², says the office of
representative. The PR-office replies: ³We don¹t communicate on this
matter².

Fortunately, America keeps close record of the currency flow. The documents
show that former representative Livingston, now an influential lobbyist, has
received 12 million dollars from Turkey in the last 8 years in order to
prevent successfully the adoption of the Genocide resolution. He is now
active again according to the registers. Take for instance representative
Bobby Jindal who received from Livingston 10 thousand dollars donation for
his campaign for governorship. Two months later, Jindal withdrew his support
for the Genocide resolution.

Turkey also brought into action former presidential candidate Dick Gephardt.
He is lobbying now against the Genocide resolution for an annual pay of 1.2
million dollars.