POLITICALLY EXPLOSIVE ARMENIAN BILL COMING TO US CONGRESS NEXT WEEK
Zaman, Turkey
Jan 11 2007
The group of congressmen, consisting of Adam Schiff, George Radanovich,
Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg, have sent a letter to other members
of the US House of Representatives, announcing that they would bring
forward the resolution onto the House floor next week and requesting
their support for their initiative, sources said.
A vote on a similar resolution was postponed at the last minute in
2002, when then House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert,
a Republican, shelved it at the intervention of the US administration.
However, Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat who became the first woman to be
the speaker of the House of Representatives after mid-term elections
in the United States in November, promised her voters before the
elections that she would work for approval of the resolution.
The Democrats now have the majority in the House of Representatives
and a vote on the "genocide" resolution is widely expected to mean its
endorsement. The resolution claims that the Ottoman Empire, between
1915 and 1923, massacred 1,5 million of Armenians in Anatolia in a
genocide campaign.
The US administration is expected to work to persuade the congressmen
not to support the resolution, as it did in the past. Sources say
that the administration would try to put the resolution on ice for at
least a year. The White House is concerned that the passage of this
resolution would undermine dialogue and cooperation with Turkey on
a series of issues, particularly on the sensitive situation in Iraq.
Turkey is trying to prevent the draft resolution
Although the Democrats promised to their Armenian-origin voters during
the pre-election period that they would push for the resolution, Turkey
is still in a struggle to prevent its passage. The Turkish caucus in
the House of Representatives, the Turkish Embassy in Washington and
professional lobbying companies are telling the US Congressmen that
the passage of this resolution would create tensions in relations
with Turkey.
Turkey categorically denies allegations of genocide and says the
killings came when the Ottoman Empire was trying to quell civilian
unrest caused by Armenian revolts in the eastern Anatolia. Egemen
Bagis, an Istanbul deputy from the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) and a close aide of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has
contacted notable Congress members, such as Democrat Congressman Robert
Wexler and Republican Iliana Ros-Lehtinen, explaining to them that
passage of the resolution would spell deep damage in Turkish-US ties.
As the Armenian Diaspora in the United States is preparing
to bring up the Armenian genocide allegations in the Congress,
U.S. President George W. Bush once again offered Richard Hoagland as
the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, although he was turned down by the
Senate elected in the end of last year.
Pro-Armenian lobby senators asked Bush to offer another candidate
instead of Hoagland. Armenians fiercely oppose appointment of
Hoagland, who denies calling Armenian claims as "genocide." Former
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans was suspended from the office on
grounds that he countered official policy of the U.S. State Department
by using the expression the "Armenian genocide" during a meeting.
Suspension of Evans caused outrage among Armenians. Hoagland failed
to use the expression "genocide" during his address to the Senate to
get approval. Therefore, Robert Menendez, D-N.J., a supporter of the
Armenian lobby, blocked his appointment and was reported to have sent
a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with Democrat Senator
Harry Reid for naming another candidate to the post. U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State Nick Burns wrote a response to Menendez and Reid
telling them not to meddle the appointment of Hoagland with politics.