Arutz Sheva, Israel
Feb 28 2010
US Congress to Vote on Armenian Genocide Resolution
Reported: 06:46 AM – Feb/28/10
(IsraelNN.com) An American congressional panel is expected to vote
this week on a resolution that would recognize the World War I-era
killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide. Prior to his
election, United States President Barack Obama said that he considered
the killings to be genocide but the American president has recently
been tight-lipped concerning the upcoming vote. The congressional
resolution is seen as diplomatically controversial as it could
alienate Turkey, a NATO ally crucial to America’s foreign policy goals
in the Middle East.
Previous US administrations have defeated similar resolutions through
public cajoling about US national security interests and
behind-the-scenes lobbying but so far the Obama administration has
taken no public position on the measure. Aides to senior Democratic
and Republican lawmakers on the House of Representatives Foreign
Affairs Committee claim that there has been no White House pressure
against the resolution. Ankara has made clear on several occasions
that the issue could dramatically alter Turkish relations with the
United States.
ash.aspx/181415