Truthdig
March 5 2010

U.S. House Panel’s Vote on Genocide Riles Turks

Posted on Mar 5, 2010

Armenian civilians are marched to a prison in Mezireh by armed Turkish
soldiers in 1915.

Turkey has recalled its ambassador and warned of serious damage to
bilateral relations after a U.S. House committee approved a nonbinding
resolution calling the massacre of more than 1 million Armenians
almost 100 years ago a `genocide.’

Turkey has been a strategic location for the U.S., given America’s
wars and oil interests in the region, which has made Washington’s
position on the genocide a hairy issue. ‘JCL

The Guardian:

Turkey’s prime minister warned of serious damage to US-Turkish
relations today after a congressional committee approved a resolution
describing the massacre of more than 1 million Armenians by the
Ottoman empire during the first world war as genocide.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country had been accused of a crime it
did not commit, adding that the resolution would hamper efforts by
Turkey and Armenia to end a century of hostility.

Turkey last night recalled its ambassador after the house foreign
affairs committee approved 23-22 the non-binding measure despite
objections from the Obama administration, which had warned that such a
move would harm relations with Turkey’a Nato ally with about 1,700
troops in Afghanistan’and could imperil fragile reconciliation talks
between Turkey and Armenia.

tem/turkey_turns_cold_after_house_vote_20100305/