U.S. HOUSE PANEL BACKS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL
Emil Danielyan
/1974985.html
05.03.2010
Ignoring stern warnings from Ankara, a key committee of the U.S. House
of Representatives narrowly approved on Thursday a resolution that
recognizes the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as
genocide and urges President Barack Obama to do the same.
Armenia welcomed the development immediately after the Foreign Affairs
Committee endorsed the measure by a margin of just one vote. "We
highly appreciate the decision by the Committee on Foreign Affairs
of the United States House of Representatives to adopt Resolution
252 on the recognition of the Armenian genocide," Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian said in a statement.
"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.
By contrast, Turkey condemned the committee vote and recalled
its ambassador to Washington "for consultations." "We condemn this
resolution accusing Turkey of a crime that it has not committed," the
Turkish prime minister’s office said in a written statement reported
by "Hurriyet Daily News."~SOur Ambassador to Washington Namik Tan was
recalled tonight to Ankara for consultations after the development."
Howard Berman, the Democratic chairman of the House committee and a
strong backer of the resolution, put it to a vote despite reported
pressure from the Obama administration. The White House said U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned Berman on Wednesday
to warn that the legislation could harm efforts to normalize
Turkish-Armenian relations.
"Secretary Clinton called Chairman Berman yesterday and in that
conversation the secretary indicated that further Congressional action
could impede progress on normalization of relations," Reuters news
agency quoted U.S. National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer
as saying.
Hammer also said Obama called Turkish President Abdullah Gul
on Wednesday to urge quick ratification of the U.S.-brokered
Turkish-Armenian normalization agreements signed in October.
"The vast majority of experts, academics, authorities in international
law and others, who have looked at this issue for years, agree that
the tragic massacres of the Armenians constitutes genocide," Berman
said, opening a committee debate on the politically sensitive bill.
The California lawmaker acknowledged that Turkey, which vehemently
denies any premeditated effort to wipe out the Ottoman Empire’s
Armenian population, is a "vital ally" of the United States. "Be
that as it may, nothing justifies Turkey’s turning a blind eye to
the reality of the Armenian genocide," he said.
Opponents of the resolution warned that Turkish retaliation against
genocide recognition could deal a serious blow to the ongoing U.S.
military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and lead to the closure
of a key U.S. military base in southeastern Turkey. They said
the resolution’s passage could also undermine the implementation
of the Turkish-Armenian agreements. Some of them emphasized the
fact those agreements call for the formation of a Turkish-Armenian
inter-governmental panel that would look into the events of 1915.
Several resolution opponents also made clear that they believe the
slaughter of more than one million Armenian subjects of the Ottoman
Empire did amount to a genocide. But as one of them, congressman Mike
Pence of Indiana, pointed out, "now is not the time" for the United
States to officially affirm that. "Turkey is a strategic partner in
our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq," he argued.
"For us, to ram this thing through and jeopardize our relationship
with Turkey at a time when our troops are on the field and we are in
war makes no sense to me," said Dan Burton, another Indiana Republican.
"We need to ensure that our decisions and our actions concerning the
resolution before us do not have unintended consequences that could
place at risk critical U.S. security interests, our operations in
Afghanistan and Iraq, and our troops serving in harm’s way," agreed
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican.
But Berman dismissed such arguments. "The Turks say passing this
resolution could have terrible consequences for our bilateral
relationship and, indeed, perhaps there will be some consequences,"
he said. "But I believe that Turkey values its relationship with the
United States at least as much as we value our relations with Turkey.
"And I believe the Turks, however deep their dismay today,
fundamentally agree that the U.S.-Turkish alliance is simply too
important to get sidetracked by a non-binding resolution passed by
the House of Representatives."
The ensuing committee vote lasted more than 90 minutes. Visiting
parliamentarians from Armenia and Turkey as well as representatives
of the Armenian and Turkish communities in the U.S. present at the
proceedings waited anxiously as U.S. legislators took their time voting
for or against the genocide bill. It was passed by 23 votes to 22.
The two main Armenian-American advocacy groups, which have for decades
been lobbying for U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide, were
quick to hail the outcome. "We are pleased that the resolution passed
with the composition of the committee being more adverse to us than in
decades and in the face of extreme tactics," a leader of the Armenian
Assembly of America told RFE/RL’s Armenian service from Washington.
"The truth prevailed in the end," Elizabeth Chouldjian, a spokeswoman
for the Armenian National Committee of America, told the Yerevan-based
Yerkir-Media television. "The Turkish pressure proved futile."
While approval by the Foreign Affairs Committee was indispensable for
progress of the resolution, prospects for its discussion and adoption
by the full House of Representatives anytime soon remain uncertain.
The committee already backed similar bills in 2000, 2002 and 2007. But
strong pressure from the previous U.S. administrations prevented them
from reaching the House floor.
It was also not immediately clear just how the development will
affect the implementation of the Turkish-Armenian agreements. Ankara
warned before the vote that the genocide resolution would make their
ratification by Turkey’s parliament even less likely.
In a separate statement issued earlier on Thursday, Nalbandian
denounced his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu’s reported remark
that the Turkish government could easily ensure the ratification if it
wanted to. "Thus, Turkey is admitting that it has been artificially
dragging out the ratification process," he said. "This is a clear
breach of our understandings."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress