TURKISH AMERICANS URGE OBAMA TO BLOCK ‘GENOCIDE’ BILL

Today’s Zaman
March 24 2010
Turkey

A major Turkish-American group has urged US President Barack Obama to
discourage the passage of a resolution in the US Congress supporting
Armenian genocide claims by making a public statement expressing his
opposition to the resolution.

The Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) also called on
Obama, who will issue an annual message on the Armenian killings in
the early 20th century on April 24, to "remember and honor" the Ottoman
Muslims who also perished during an Armenian revolt in the final years
of the Ottoman Empire, the Anatolia news agency reported on Tuesday.

Turkey denies claims that 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a
genocide campaign, saying the death toll is inflated and many Ottoman
Turks were also killed during the fighting.

The US House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a resolution — by
23 votes to 22 — on March 4 endorsing the Armenian version of history.

It is not clear whether the measure will reach the House floor for a
vote. The ATAA letter said further consideration by the US Congress
would both harm US-Turkish ties and the process of reconciliation
between Turkey and Armenia. Two protocols signed by Turkey and Armenia
in October to normalize their ties envisage, among other things,
the establishment of a commission of historians to study the World
War I events.

"The United States must speak with one voice on Turkish-Armenian
reconciliation. We can not simultaneously encourage ratification of the
protocols while prejudicing the outcomes of one of their elements —
the envisaged joint historical commission," the letter reads.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated her support for the
Turkish-Armenian agreement to create the commission of historians. "I
think that’s the right way to go, I think, to have the two countries
and the two peoples focusing on this themselves. I have said many
times we cannot change the past we inherit. All we can do is try
to have a better future," she said in an interview with a Russian
television channel, the text of which was published by the US State
Department on Monday.