ARMENIA HAILS CONGRESSIONAL PANEL’S VOTE ON GENOCIDE BILL
By Ruzanna Khachatrian and Ruzanna Stepanian
Radio Liberty, Czech rep.
Oct 11 2007
Armenia’s political establishment on Thursday welcomed the genocide
resolution approved by a U.S. congressional panel the previous day to
describe the World War I-era killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey
as genocide.
Opening the parliament session, Speaker Tigran Torosian expressed
gratitude to the American congressmen for showing "high moral
qualities" and withstanding "various pressures."
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. Congress’ House of
Representatives on Wednesday approved Resolution 106 by 27 votes to 21.
The text of the resolution opposed by the Bush administration
and various Turkish lobbyist groups in the United States says the
killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians was a genocide that should be
acknowledged fully in U.S. foreign policy towards Turkey, along with
"the consequences of the failure to realize a just resolution."
The measure is likely to be sent on to a vote in the full
Democratic-led House, where a majority has already signed on to the
resolution. A parallel measure is in the Senate pipeline.
Armenian lawmaker David Harutiunian highly evaluated the huge work
done by the Armenian organizations and said the resolution was unlikely
to bring in any "essential change" in the Armenia-Turkey relations.
"Even if there is some change, it will be of a very temporary nature.
I said a few years ago that Turkey would itself recognize the genocide
in the next ten or fifteen years and I have the same conviction today,"
he told RFE/RL.
Armen Rustamian, from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, thinks
the resolution will be instrumental in changing Turkey’s approaches
to the matter.
"I think it will make Turkey revise its stereotypes and show a serious
approach to the Armenian genocide issue. I am sure gradually Turkey
itself will understand that this resolution marks the beginning of
Turkey’s modernization and reform," Rustamian told RFE/RL.
"Similar recognitions increase the Armenian people’s trust towards
the international community and towards the idea of justice. In this
sense, it is, of course, praiseworthy. I don’t think there will be
any tangible consequences," Stepan Safarian of the opposition Heritage
faction commented.
And Mher Shahgeldian, of the opposition Orinats Yerkir party, said:
"It is already a wave that will sooner or later gain even greater
momentum in the world."
Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) Armenia and Karabakh country
director Arpi Vartanian called the approval of Resolution 106 a "moral
victory" taking into account the huge pressure and threats from Turkey.
"The same resolution was discussed and voted on two years ago with 40
for and 7 against votes. But Turkey had not mounted such a large-scale
campaign back then. That’s why I would call it a great victory,"
Vartanian told RFE/RL.
Vartanian is optimistic about the prospect of the resolution in the
full House, but at the same time does not rule out that its passage
may be thwarted under huge Turkish pressure.
"Great efforts are being made to thwart the resolution, but we, too,
must continue our efforts to ensure its passage," she said.