PARRIS: ARMENIAN LOBBY MOBILIZING FOR ‘GENOCIDE’

Today’s Zaman
Feb 13 2009
Turkey

The Armenian lobby in the United States has made great efforts to
assure recognition of the alleged Armenian genocide, and the outcome
of this push may shape the future of Turkish-US bilateral relations,
former US Ambassador to Turkey Mark Parris has said.

Speaking at a conference sponsored by the International Investors
Association (YASED) on Wednesday evening in Ä°stanbul, Parris said the
Armenian lobby has been working to get the new American administration
to pass legislation describing the events of 1915 as "genocide."

Parris said it is not clear yet whether the issue of the "genocide"
will be on the agenda of the White House or Congress and added that
the outcome may shape relations between the United States and Turkey.

Emphasizing that his comments do not represent the views of the
US government, Parris responded to a question about the future of
the Jewish-American lobby’s support for Turkey, saying, "It is not
correct to say that the Jewish lobby’s views of Turkey would not be
deeply affected" by what happened in Davos.

The question was related to Armenian efforts to have a resolution
passed in the US Congress recognizing claims that Anatolian Armenians
were subjected to genocide in the World War I era and a possible
change in the support of Jewish-American groups for Turkey against
these efforts as a result of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
walkout at the Davos summit after an angry exchange with Israeli
President Shimon Peres over Israel’s deadly operation in Gaza last
month, which killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, almost half of whom
were civilians.

Parris used the word "risky" when describing Turkish-American
relations and held the George W. Bush administration responsible for
the current difficulties. He also said the new US administration under
Barack Obama should pay attention to Turkey with the most senior
level visits because no other region in the world is as important
for the United States.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress