U.S. CONGRESSMAN VOWS TO INTRODUCE ARMENIAN BILL

Hurriyet
March 3 2009
Turkey

A U.S. congressman vows to introduce a bill recognizing the 1915
incidents as "genocide", U.S. media reported on Tuesday.

Democratic Rep.Adam Schiff of Pasadena, a Southern California city,
said he would introduce the bill later this month, adding he believes
U.S. President Barack Obama will support it.

Armenian lobby organizations have increased theirs efforts to
have their claims regarding the 1915 incidents recognized in the
U.S. Congress. During the election campaign, Obama had pledged to
recognize the Armenian claims.

"He has a track record of supporting the recognition of the genocide,"
Schiff told Pasadena Star News. "I am very hopeful that he will
support the bill," he added.

Schiff previously introduced the bill in the fall of 2007 and initially
found a lot of support for it.

Schiff said Obama had spoken in support of the bill while in the
Senate, and said on the campaign trail that he was in favor of
the bill.

The bill would first face the challenge of getting through the House
and Senate, something which Schiff said was not guaranteed. "I’m not
taking anything for granted," he said.

The issue of 1915 incidents is highly sensitive for Turkey as well as
Armenia. Around 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks, died
in civil strife that emerged when Armenians took up arms, backed by
Russia, for independence in eastern Anatolia.

However Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5
million of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in
1915. The issue remains unsolved as Armenia drags its feet in accepting
Turkey’s proposal of forming a commission to investigate the claims.