Clinton promises hard fight to block Armenian `genocide’ resolution
By DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR

Published: Mar 6, 2010 12:35 AM Updated: Mar 6, 2010 12:36 AM

GUATEMALA CITY: The government of US President Barack Obama will work
very hard to block the Armenian "genocide" resolution now working its
way through US Congress, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
said Friday in Guatemala.

Clinton told a press conference that the Obama Administration will
seek to prevent the resolution from coming to a full vote in the House
of Representatives.

She had previously met with Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom in the
last stage of a Latin American tour that has also taken her to
Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Costa Rica.

The US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs committee Thursday
passed the bill which recognizes the mass murders of Armenians during
World War I as a "genocide."

House speaker Nancy Pelosi must now decide whether to bring the
non-binding resolution to a full vote. Ankara has warned that the
bill’s further progress could seriously damage ties between NATO
allies Turkey and the US.

The Obama administration has opposed the House resolution, saying it
could disrupt ongoing reconciliation talks between Turkey and Armenia,
which are strongly backed by the United States. In addition, Turkey is
a key member of NATO, strategically placed within the Middle East.

Obama telephoned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on
Wednesday to give reassurances.

The Turkish ambassador to Washington, Namik Tan, was recalled to
Ankara for consultations soon after the committee approved the
resolution, with a narrow 23-22 vote.

Armenians contend that up to 1.5 million of their own were
systematically killed by the Ottoman Turks during World War I. Turkey
has long denied the genocide claim, saying the number of Armenians
killed was much lower and that the deaths were the result of violent
turbulence that also affected other groups at the time.