Agence France Presse
March 5, 2010 Friday 7:04 AM GMT
Defiant US lawmakers pass Armenia ‘genocide’ bill
washington, March 5 2010
Turkey has furiously recalled its ambassador after US lawmakers voted
to brand as "genocide" the killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces
during World War I.
Despite strong opposition from Turkey and the White House, the House
Foreign Affairs Committee passed the symbolic resolution on Thursday,
albeit by the slimmest 23-22 margin, and set the stage for a full vote
in the House of Representatives.
The Turkish government, which had sent its own lawmakers to Washington
to lobby US congressmen and warned of serious repercussions over the
vote, responded by recalling ambassador Namik Tan to Ankara for
consultations.
"We condemn this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of a
crime it has not committed," it said in a statement.
President Abdullah Gul also expressed his anger, saying the resolution
had "no value in the eyes of the Turkish people" and warning it would
deal a blow to fledgling efforts to end decades of hostility between
Turkey and Armenia.
"Turkey will not be responsible for the negative ramifications that
this vote may have in every field," he stressed.
The non-binding resolution calls on President Barack Obama to ensure
that US foreign policy reflects an understanding of the "genocide" and
to label the mass killings as such in his annual statement on the
issue.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed during World
War I by their Ottoman rulers as the empire was falling apart, a claim
supported by several other countries.
Turkey argues 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks
died in what was a civil strife when Armenians rose up for
independence and sided with invading Russian troops.
The United States has traditionally condemned the 1915-1918 killings,
but refrained from calling them a "genocide," anxious not to strain
relations with Turkey, a NATO member and a key Muslim majority ally in
the Middle East.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had urged the committee not to
press ahead with the vote for fear it might harm reconciliation moves
between Armenia and Turkey and said she hoped the bid would progress
no further.
"We do not believe the full Congress will or should act on that
resolution," Clinton told reporters in Costa Rica.
Following US-backed bridge-building talks, Turkey and Armenia signed a
deal in October to establish diplomatic relations and open their
border.
But the process has already hit the rocks, with Ankara accusing
Yerevan of trying to tweak the terms of the deal and Yerevan charging
that Ankara is not committed to ratifying the accord.
Clinton, who had called committee chairman Howard Berman on Wednesday
to try to persuade him to shelve the vote, defended an apparent U-turn
on the matter by the president.
Obama pledged during his campaign that he would recognize the events
as genocide, but disappointed Armenian-American supporters when he
refrained from using the term in his message last year to commemorate
the killings.
"The circumstances have changed in very significant ways," Clinton
said, explaining that it became clear after the administration took
office that the reconciliation process was a "very worthy one that we
intended to support.
"I do not think it is for any other country to determine how two
countries resolve matters between them to the extent that actions that
the United States might take could disrupt this process."
In his opening remarks Thursday, Berman, the Democratic chairman of
the Foreign Affairs Committee, said "nothing justifies Turkey’s
turning a blind eye to the reality of the Armenian genocide.
"At some point, every nation must come to terms with its own history.
And that is all we ask of Turkey," he said, urging his fellow
lawmakers to support the legislation.
Ankara also recalled its envoy from Washington in 2007 when a
congressional committee passed a similar text.
But then-president George W. Bush stopped the resolution from going to
the full House, wary over reports that Ankara would block US access to
a key air base essential for Iraq and Afghanistan operations.