OBAMA ENCOURAGED TO LOBBY AGAINST GENOCIDE BILL
By Bridget Johnson
The Hill
ged-to-lobby-against-genocide-bill-2009-04-01.html
April 1 2009
DC
A new report warns President Obama that recognizing the World War
I-era killings of Armenians as genocide — or not lobbying Congress
to ditch the bill — would be a bad foreign-policy move.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies report released
this week studies the future of U.S. relations with Turkey, in advance
of Obama’s visit to the Muslim nation next Monday and Tuesday.
"A near-term uncertainty in the [American-Turkish] relationship is the
‘Armenian genocide resolution,’" the report states. "If President
Obama takes no action to prevent congressional enactment of the
resolution (H. Res. 252), endorses the measure, or uses the word
genocide himself, the Turkish response will be harsh and trigger a
bitter breach in relations."
The resolution, introduced March 17 by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) with
77 co-sponsors, now has 88 co-sponsors and has been referred to the
House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Rep. J. Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.),
a co-sponsor on the day of the bill’s introduction, withdrew his
sponsorship on March 23.
The contentious resolution calls the deaths of as many as 1.5
million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire starting in 1915
"genocide." Turkey blames the deaths on civil upheaval toward the
end and directly after World War I, saying that 300,000 Armenians
were killed and at least as many Turks.
In a January 2008 campaign statement, Obama vowed to back such a
resolution if elected.
"The facts are undeniable," Obama said. "An official policy that
calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable
policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian
Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I
will recognize the Armenian Genocide."
The CSIS report, introduced Monday by Zbigniew Brzezinski and
Brent Scowcroft, says, "Rather than seek to legislate history,
the United States and the international community should provide
maximum encouragement and support to the diplomatic rapprochement
being pursued by the governments of Turkey and Armenia, as well as
to emerging regional cooperation."
The report calls the bill "of foremost concern in bilateral relations,"
and said the issue has been "hanging like the sword of Damocles over
the relationship for 20 years."
It adds that "there seems to be a real danger of either the White House
refraining from lobbying against the resolution and thus permitting
its passage or of a direct acknowledgement through a presidential
statement."
Armenian leaders have expressed hope that Obama will follow through on
that pledge. The Armenian National Committee of America is encouraging
its website visitors to lobby their legislators to support the bill.
Aram Hamparian, executive director of ANCA, questioned whether CSIS was
receiving foreign funding that may have influenced their report. "The
best way to understand where CSIS is coming from is to understand
where their money comes from," he said.
"We’re confident that President Obama is a man of his word," Hamparian
said. "…We look forward to him honoring his pledge."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
