TURKEY’S LOBBYING AGAINST ARMENIAN RESOLUTION LIKELY TO PROVE SUCCESSFUL
The Frontrunner
October 22, 2007 Monday
U.S. News and World Report (10/29, Tolson, 2.03M) reports, "Call it a
tragic episode, a massacre, even a crime against humanity. But don’t
— at least officially — call the death and forced displacement
of up to 1.5 million Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire a
genocide. That is what the government of Turkey has long insisted,
though seldom more strenuously than in the wake of the most recent
attempt in the U.S. Congress to pass a nonbinding resolution that
would do just that. … At the moment, however, it looks as though
Turkey and an impressive array of supporters — from the White House
to K Street and beyond — will prevail in blocking the attempt.
Twenty earlier backers of the bill have already defected in response
to a tsunami of pressure that includes millions of lobbying dollars,
eight former secretaries of state, three former secretaries of defense,
Gen. David Petraeus, the patriarch of the Armenian church in Turkey,
and even The Daily Show."
U.S. News and World Report (10/29, Knight, 2.03M) notes that Turkey
has paid former Rep. Robert Livingston, former chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee, "more than $12 million to be the main
lobbying force against the resolution. Turkey has also paid the law
firm DLA Piper $100,000 per month for Richard Gephardt, the former
House majority leader, to help arrange high-level meetings for Turkish
diplomats and to lobby against the measure."
Bush’s Shift On Genocide Appellation Noted.
In a piece for Time (10/29, 4.03M) Samantha Power writes, "Having
recognized the genocide while campaigning for the White House,
President George W. Bush nevertheless followed in the footsteps of his
Oval Office predecessors, bemoaning the euphemistic ‘tragic suffering’
of Armenians and wheeling out men and women of diplomatic and military
rank to argue that the resolution would harm the indispensable
U.S.-Turkish relationship. … Bush hasn’t dared dispute the facts. An
Administration that has shown little regard for the truth is openly
urging Congress to join it in avoiding honesty."
Zuckerman Accuses Democrats Of Acting Irresponsibly.
U.S. News and World Report’s Mortimer Zuckerman (10/29) writes,
"There is a lot at stake. Support for America by the Turkish public
is down to only 11 percent, and right-wing nationalism and radical
Islam within Turkey are reviving, inflamed by xenophobic comments
from Europe’s leaders unwilling to admit Turkey to the European Union."
Armenia Resolution Called "First Truly Dumb" Move By Democratic
Majority.
Stuart Rothenberg writes in Roll Call (10/22), "If there is anything
that points out the difference between most Republicans and most
Democrats, it is Congress’ effort to pass a resolution that labels
Turkey’s slaughter of Armenians almost a century ago as ‘genocide.’
… If you cut through all of the politicking and even put aside the
specifics of the current controversy, you see that fundamentally, the
issue is this: For Republicans, politics is never having to say you’re
sorry. For Democrats, politics primarily is about an endless number
of apologies and condolences, and a feeling of unquenchable guilt,
though it tends to be institutional, not personal." Rothenberg adds,
"The problem for the Democrats is that the controversy over Congress’
steps to assert that Turkey was guilty of a policy of genocide isn’t
a laughing matter — at least it isn’t to the Turks.
Instead, it is the first truly dumb thing that Democrats may have
done since the party won both chambers of Congress last year."
Rice Intervenes After PKK Attack Kills At Least 12 Turkish Troops.
Network news last night reported the latest PKK attack, casting it as
a serious threat to US efforts to keep Turkey from sending troops into
the Iraqi Kurdish region. ABC World News (10/21, story 3, 2:25, Muir,
8.78M) reported that the US was "urging restraint, as Turkey now eyes
possible retaliation." The CBS Evening News (10/21, story 6, 2:30,
Mitchell, 7.66M) reported, "Turkey’s prime minister said late today
that at the request of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Turkey
will not strike back for at least a few days." CBS (Palmer) added that
the Turks "want America to help, either by supporting some sort of
[Turkish] special forces," but "preferably to lean on the Kurds very
hard." NBC Nightly News (12/6, story 7, 2:15, Aspell, 9.87M) reported,
"The Turkish government is now under intense pressure to send its
troops across the border." NBC Nightly News (12/6, story 8, 1:30,
Holt, 9.87M) reported in an analysis, "The concern at the highest
levels of the US government that a military response from Turkey
could complicate American efforts in Iraq." NBC (Mitchell) stated,
"I’m told that Secretary of State Rice, possibly the President himself,
will be calling their Turkish counterparts to urge them to continue
to show a measured response and they’re going to be promising that
they will try to get Iraq’s Kurdish leaders to do a better job of
controlling those rebels."
The New York Times (10/22, Tavernise, 1.18M) also notes "Turkey’s
prime minister said he delayed a decision, after…Rice personally
intervened." The ambush "was seen as a direct provocation" by the
PKK. According to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who spoke on
Turkish national television, Rice said, "Allow us a few days." Iraqi
officials denounced "the Kurdish ambush" but "rejected Turkish demands
that militant leaders be captured and handed over to Turkey."
The Washington Post (10/22, A1, Paley, 723K) reports on its front page
that the attack ratcheted "up pressure on the Turkish government to
launch a military offensive into Iraq. … Abdul Rahman al-Chaderchi,
a PKK spokesman, said the Kurdish fighters attacked because Turkish
troops were conducting war games late Saturday near the border."
AFP (10/22, Bozarslan) reports, "Turkey said Sunday it was ready
to pay any price to win victory over Kurdish separatists" after the
attack. Erdogan said "he had urged US action to stamp out PKK bases
during a telephone conversation with…Rice, who appealed for more
time." The Financial Times (10/22, Boland) notes Erdogan "said any
military response to the attacks would be taken ‘within the framework’
of the parliamentary authorisation." USA Today /AP (10/22, 11A)
and Los Angeles Times (10/22, Borg, Rasheed, 881K) run similar reports.
The Washington Times /AP (10/22, Burns) reports that Defense Secretary
Gates "said Sunday it appears Turkey’s military is not on the verge
of invading northern Iraq in pursuit" of the PKK rebels.
Gates "told his Turkish counterpart that a major incursion into
northern Iraq would hurt the Bush administration’s efforts to stave
off a positive vote" on the House Armenian genocide resolution.