House panel recommends calling 1915 Armenian killings ‘genocide’
CNN.com
March 4, 2010 5:38 p.m. EST

NEW: Turkey orders its ambassador to the United States home for "consultation"
NEW: Armenia’s foreign minister says his country highly appreciates committee’s vote

Measure, which Turkey vehemently opposes, passes 23-22, will now go to
full House Turkey officially denies genocide took place in last days
of crumbling Ottoman Empire

Washington (CNN) — The House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly
passed a measure Thursday recommending that the United States
recognize the 1915 killings of ethnic Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as
genocide.

The measure passed 23-22 and will now head to the full House.

In response, Turkey ordered its ambassador to the United States home
for "consultation," foreign ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin told
CNN.

The nearly century-old issue has placed Congress and the White House
in the middle of a political minefield, balancing moral considerations
with domestic and international concerns.

The Obama administration had urged the House Foreign Affairs Committee
not to pass the resolution, warning it could damage U.S.-Turkish
relations and jeopardize efforts to normalize relations between Turkey
and its neighbor Armenia. The two do not share formal diplomatic
relations.

"We are concerned that the possible action … would … impede the
positive momentum that we see in the Turkey-Armenia normalization
process," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters ahead
of the vote.

He added that the United States was concerned about the effect the
vote could potentially have on U.S.-Turkish relations. Turkey, among
other things, is considered a strong American ally and is home to a
critical U.S. air base.

This is another proof of the devotion of the American people to
universal human values. …
–Edward Nalbandian, Armenia’s foreign minister

Armenia’s foreign minister, Edward Nalbandian, said his country highly
appreciates the committee’s vote. "This is another proof of the
devotion of the American people to universal human values and is an
important step toward the prevention of the crimes against humanity,"
he said. The Armenian National Committee of America said the passage
of the measure shows that "Turkey doesn’t get a vote or a veto in the
U.S. Congress."

Turkish officials vehemently opposed the measure.

"Turkey is saddened by the bill that has been accepted in the Foreign
Affairs Committee today," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s Web site said.

"We condemn this bill that accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it
has not committed. The people who support this bill have adopted a
wrong and unfair attitude, ignoring the differences of opinion of
expert historians and historical facts. The bill has been prepared
with tangible historical mistakes regarding the 1915 incidents and
with a completely subjective attitude," the statement said.

A Turkish foreign ministry spokesman recently issued a public warning
that passage of a resolution labeling the World War I killings as
genocide "would harm U.S.-Turkish relations." Turkish officials have
also warned that passing the resolution could hurt a historic
agreement aimed at normalizing relations between Turkey and Armenia,
and reopening their long-closed border.

"It would harm the normalization process," spokesman Ozugergin
said. "And it is wrong. The substance is also wrong."

Turkey officially denies a genocide took place in the last days of the
crumbling Ottoman Empire. Ankara instead says that Muslim Turks and
Christian Armenians massacred each other on the killing fields of
World War I.

Historians have extensively documented the Ottoman military’s forced
death march of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians into the
Syrian desert in 1915. Every April 24, Armenians worldwide observe a
day for those killed.

We condemn this bill that accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it has not
committed.
–Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Web site

The killings decimated the Armenian population in what is modern-day
eastern Turkey.

The government in the Armenian capital of Yerevan and influential
Armenian diaspora groups have been urging countries around the world
to formally label the events of 1915 "genocide."

"I don’t pretend to be a professional historian," Foreign Affairs
Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-California, said ahead of the
vote. "But the vast majority of experts … agree that the tragic
massacres of the Armenians constitute genocide."

Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, acknowledged that Turkey is an
"important, strong [and] necessary ally of the United States." But
"overriding all of that," he said, "is the issue of justice and the
issue of history. … History has to be righted."

Opponents of the resolution had expressed sympathy toward the victims
of the 1915 killings but said current political concerns took
priority.

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, praised the committee’s "sincere effort"
to illuminate "a dark chapter in history" but said the committee
should not pass the measure.

"I do not minimize the horror that took place," he said. But "now is
not the time for this committee of the American Congress to take up
the measure that is now before us."

Turkey is a strategic partner of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan,
Pence said.

Furthermore, the logistical support provided by the U.S. base in
Incirlik, Turkey, is a "staple" of American power in the Middle East,
he said. "In a time of war," the United States should not "take the
relationship [with Turkey] for granted."

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Virginia, said Congress should not do anything
to undermine the Turkish government, which is a "secular alternative
model for the Muslim world."

"I hate this vote," he said. "The United States has a great deal at
stake in the Turkish relationship," and passing the resolution would
jeopardize that relationship. Congress shouldn’t "pontificate on this
issue" and then pretend "there will be no consequences," he said.

Last year, the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia signed a series
of protocols aimed at establishing embassies in Ankara and
Yerevan. The U.S.-, European- and Russian-backed agreement also called
for the creation of an international committee of historians to
examine archives and "restore mutual confidence between the two
nations."

In October 2009, Armenia’s president traveled to Turkey to attend a
historic soccer match between the two countries’ national
teams. Despite this round of "football diplomacy," the diplomatic
overture between the two capitals has slowed in recent months.

In 2007, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a previous
resolution recognizing the Armenian "genocide." The Turkish government
protested by temporarily recalling its ambassador from Washington.

The resolution did not make it to the House floor.

CNN’s Ivan Watson, Elise Labott and Alan Silverleib contributed to
this report.