TheNewsTribune.com
March 5 2010

Panel OKs genocide resolution

MICHAEL DOYLE; McClatchy Newspapers
Published: 03/05/1012:05 am

WASHINGTON ` The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday narrowly
approved an Armenian genocide resolution over last-minute objections
by the Obama administration.

After an extended debate that awoke many old ghosts, the committee
approved the resolution by 23-22.

The measure would put the House of Representatives on record as
applying the word `genocide’ to a man-made catastrophe in which, by
some estimates, 1.5 million Armenians died from 1915 to 1923 during
the final days of the Ottoman Empire.

`I don’t pretend to be a professional historian,’ said committee
Chairman Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., `but the vast majority of
experts agree that the tragic massacre of Armenians constitutes a
genocide.’

The Turkish government in Ankara recalled its newly appointed
ambassador to the United States, Namik Tan, shortly after the House
committee voted, for what were described as `consultations.’ The
Turkish government took a similar step in 2007 after an earlier
committee vote.

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