MILITARY CONTRACTORS AND CHEVRON LOBBY AGAINST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL

AllGov
ry_Contractors_and_Chevron_Lobby_against_Armenian_ Genocide_Bill_90616
June 17 2009
USA

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 (graphic: PeaceofArt.org) Billion-dollar
business deals have trumped human rights concerns for some of the
largest defense and energy corporations in the United States when it
comes to the issue of recognizing the Armenian genocide. According
to the Associated Press, six international companies–BAE Systems,
Goodrich, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, United Technologies, and
Chevron–have quietly lobbied Congress not to approve a resolution
that labels the death of more than one million Armenians by Turkey
in the early 20th century as "genocide."

All of the companies have strong ties to Turkey, a key ally of the
United States. The Turkish armed forces is getting fighter jets from
Northrop for $3 billion, while U.K.-based BAE Systems is supplying
armored vehicles, Raytheon is selling the Stinger missile launcher
system, and United Technologies is providing Sikorsky helicopters to
Turkey. Goodrich is being paid by a Turkish firm to provide maintenance
and repair work on engine components, and Chevron holds a stake in
a pipeline that crosses the country.

Rouben Adalian, director of the Armenian National Institute, a
Washington research organization, says the companies "don’t want to
be seen opposing a resolution that has a very evident human rights
element. It would put them on the side of denying history and denying
genocide."

The House resolution regarding Armenian genocide is currently sitting
in the foreign affairs committee, awaiting a hearing. Similar bills
have been introduced in previous sessions of Congress, but have
never been approved. The government of Turkey denies that the deaths,
which occurred at the time of World War I, were genocide, saying the
number of casualties is inflated and was the consequence of civil
war and unrest.