US CONGRESS DELAYS ARMENIA VOTE
By Agencies
MWC News
Oct 26 2007
Canada
CULTURE
Turks had marched in protest against the bill [EPA] The authors
of a US congress bill to formally label the World War One massacre
of Armenians by Turks a genocide have agreed to delay the measure,
which had sparked fury in Turkey. The White House had called for the
scrapping the bill, which passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee
on October 10, fearing relations with Turkey would be damaged. The
sponsors of the bill wrote to Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of
Representatives, on Thursday asking her not to hold a debate. Turkey
had recalled its ambassador in protest at the committee passing the
bill and threatened a reduction in military co-operation if the house
passed it. Armenians say at least 1.5 million people were killed
from 1915 to 1917 in what they say was a campaign of deportation and
murder by the Ottoman Empire. Turkey bitterly disputes the number of
dead and the characterisation of the killings as a genocide. Judgment
questioned Despite signs that support for the controversial resolution
had waned in recent days, the bills Democrat authors – Adam Schiff,
Brad Sherman, Anna Eshoo and Frank Pallone – said it still had
significant backing in congress. "We believe that a large majority of
our colleagues want to support a resolution recognising the genocide
on the house floor, and they will do so, provided the timing is more
favourable," the letter said. Democrats argued that by refusing to
condemn the Armenian massacres as "genocide" the US will encourage
impunity for current and future crimes against humanity, for example
the killings of civilians in Darfur. John Boehner, the Republican
House minority leader, welcomed the move to pull the bill, but said
the whole episode reflected badly on the Democratic leadership and
"calls their judgment into question." "Let’s be clear: the suffering
the Armenian people endured was tragic, there is no doubt about that,"
he said in a statement. "But this 90-year-old issue should be settled
by historians, not by politicians."