Stanford Review, CA
Oct 27 2007

Armenia: Between Iraq and a Hard Place

by Tristin Abbey
Deputy Editor

As coalition and Iraqi forces struggle to fight insurgents and
terrorists in Iraq, the Democratic-controlled Congress has decided
now would be a good time to infuriate one of our most important
allies in the region, Turkey.

On January 30, 2007, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced a
resolution that condemns as genocide the systematic killing of
hundreds of thousands of Armenians during World War I by the Ottoman
Empire. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) followed suit on March 14,
introducing an identical version in the Senate. Of Schiff’s original
235 co-sponsors, 17 later withdrew their support. On October 10, the
House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved the resolution.

Turkey, heir to the Ottoman mantle, expressed outrage. As this goes
to press, President Bush is urging congressional leaders to kill the
resolution.

Of the 21 congressmen opposing the measure, 8 were Democrats. Of the
27 in support, 8 were Republicans.

Marine Corps Lt. Col. Chris Starling, a national security affairs
fellow at the Hoover Institution, explained the importance of this
issue: `Losing the support of Turkey would pose significant
logistical challenges for the U.S. military in Iraq.’

Raffi Mardirosian, president of Stanford’s Armenian Students’
Association, said members of the club were `very happy to see this
resolution pass’ the committee and that they will be even happier
when it passes the full House and Senate.

Mardirosian went on to say that the `revisionists are being driven to
the margins of political influence.’

`Very few serious historians who have examined the evidence doubt
that the 1915 massacre of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was a
case of genocide,’ said history professor Norman Naimark.

However, Naimark draws a distinction between what is historically
true and what should be done today. `I don’t believe a Congressional
resolution is the right way to discuss history.’
A senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International
Studies, Naimark added, `The timing of the proposed resolution, of
course, could not be worse, given the critical juncture in the Iraq
conflict, but also in European-Turkish and U.S.-Turkish relations.’

Mardirosian disagreed. `Our need for allies in the Middle East will
not stop in the foreseeable future,’ he said, pointing out that
Washington has `used this excuse for decades.’ Ankara, he continued,
`needs to come to terms with the events of the past.’

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