New Europe, Belgium
Oct 13 2007
Turkey angry with US over Armenian genocide bill
13 October 2007 – Issue : 751
Photo: Turkish Workers Party, IP, leader Dogu Perincek speaks with
journalists in front of the Palais de Justice during a break of his
trial on denial of the Armenian genocide, in Lausanne, Switzerland,
March 6, 2007 after several public appearances
ANA/EPA/LAURENT GILLIERON
A US congressional panel approval of a resolution calling the
slaughter of more than one million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire
`genocide,’ a move President George W Bush warned could jeopardize
US-Turkish relations, and which immediately drew the wrath of Turkish
leaders.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs voted 27-21 in favour of the
bill despite Bush’s strong opposition over concerns its will
undermine US policies in the Middle East and the war effort in Iraq,
where US troops depend on the shipment of equipment and supplies
through Turkey.
`This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass
killings and its passage would do great harm to our relations with a
key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror,’ Bush said.
`We all deeply regret the tragic suffering of the Armenian people
that began in 1915,’ Bush said, Deutsche-Presse-Agentur (dpa)
reported. Bush has previously called the slaughter `forced exile and
murder’ but has not used the term `genocide.’
He called past events in Turkey one of the greatest tragedies of the
20th century. However, historic scholarship had to show whether or
not the term genocide was appropriate, he said.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul sharply criticised the resolution, the
Anadolu news agency reported Thursday. The resolution was not
acceptable, Gul was quoted as saying by Anadolu. Gul said politicians
in the United States had sacrificed important issues for internal
political games. Turkey vehemently denies the genocide accusation.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top US lawmaker, plans on bringing the
resolution for a full vote before the House of Representatives, but
no date has been set, a spokesman from her office said. The Senate is
considering a similar resolution to label as genocide the killing of
up to 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923.
Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California whose district
includes a large number of Armenian-Americans, introduced the bill.
`How can we take effective action against the genocide in Darfur if
we lack the will to condemn genocide whenever and wherever it
occurs?’ he said.
The Bush administration made a late push to defeat the resolution. US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert
Gates privately met with lawmakers to urge them to drop the measure,
and spoke to reporters hours before the vote.
The bill also comes as the United States seeks to prevent Turkey from
taking military action in Iraq against Kurdish rebels responsible for
a recent ambush on a convoy that left 13 Turkish soldiers dead.
`The passage of this resolution at this time would, indeed, be very
problematic for everything that we’re trying to do in the Middle East
because we are very dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally,’ Rice
said.
Gates said the bill would undermine the US war effort in Iraq because
Turkey is a transit point for most of the military equipment and
supplies shipped into Iraq.
`Access to airfields and to the roads and so on in Turkey would be
very much put at risk if this resolution passes and the Turks react
as strongly as we believe they will,’ Gates said. About 70 percent of
air cargo into Iraq and 30 percent of the fuel used by the US
military goes through Turkey, Gates said.
The bill has enjoyed broad support in the House. Lawmakers believe
the United States has an obligation to speak truthfully and condemn
acts against humanity.
`The sad truth is that the modern government of Turkey refuses to
come to terms with this genocide,’ Representative Christopher Smith,
a Republican from New Jersey said. `The Turkish government
consistently and aggressively refuses to acknowledge the Armenian
genocide.’
Representative Robert Wexler said there is no dispute that the
massacre was one of the `darkest chapters’ of the last century but
said a resolution labeling it genocide could complicate the
reconciliation process between Turkey and Armenia.
`I strongly believe this resolution will further divide these two
nations and these two peoples … and will inflame a region of the
world already under great duress,’ he said.
Bush telephoned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier
to express his strong opposition to the bill. At the same time, Bush
administration officials have emphasised their opposition to the bill
does not deny the tragedy of the mass murders.