ecPulse
March 5 2010

Genocide terming was voted by Congress to Armenians mass killing by
Ottoman Turks

"Genocide" is now the word, that the Congress officially describes the
killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks 95 years ago. The House of
Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday voted 23-22 in
favor of the non-binding resolution for identifying the 1915
slaughter, when an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the
Ottoman Turks, as genocide against the Armenian people, and calls upon
President Obama to ensure the U.S policy to formally refer to it as
that.

The matter triggered immediate reaction from Turky; where Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan recalled Turkey’s ambassador to the U.S. for
consultations in light of the decisions; Turkey admits to the mass
deaths but doesn’t coincide with the number of victims and refrains to
use the word genocide.

This matter could obstruct the progressed pressed towards peace from
Turkey and Armenia. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a
news conference today "We are determined to press ahead with
normalization of relations with Armenia".

Also, it will strain the ties between Ankara and Washington, where
they are pressing against this vote going to the House floor. A
similar resolution has already passed the House Committee in 2007 yet
then-President George W. Bush urged Congressional leaders in concern
over the ties with Turkey not to table the vote.

Despite President Obama’s request to avert the voting, the panel voted
in favor of the term to describe the tragic event. They clarify the
decision by the necessity of Turkey to admit to their past mistakes,
as in the case of Germany with the Holocaust and the U.S. recognition
of slavery.

2010/03/05/congress-vote-genocide-turks-armenia-/