Author: Dabaghian Diana

Both President Obama and I Oppose Armenian Genocide Resolution: Clinton

14:10 – 05.03.10

At a news conference in Costa Rica on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton, asked to elaborate on her reversed position on
the Armenian Genocide bill House Resolution 252, said that the
situation had changed, and the US believes that the Armenia-Turkey
Protocols are the appropriate way to deal with issues between Armenia
and Turkey.

`Well, I think circumstances have changed in very significant ways.
When President Obama took office and I became Secretary of State, we
determined that the process undertaken by the Swiss in bringing the
Turkey – Turkish and Armenian governments together was a very worthy
one that we intended to support, and we have done so.

`I was personally in Zurich at the time that the protocols for the
normalization of relationship between the two countries were signed.
We think that is the appropriate way to manage the problems that have
stood in the way of normalization between the two countries,’ said
Clinton in an interview available on the US Secretary of State
official website.

She and Obama, who both supported proposed Armenia Genocide
resolutions as presidential candidates, had changed their minds
because they believed the drive to normalize relations between Turkey
and Armenia was bearing fruit.

`Within the protocols, there was an agreed-upon approach to
establishing a historical commission to look at events in the past. 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.

`Therefore, both President Obama and I have made clear, both last year
and again this year, that we do not believe any action by the Congress
is appropriate, and we oppose it.

`Now, the committee that you referred to has voted out such a
resolution, I think three times in the past. They’re likely to vote it
out again. But we do not believe that the full Congress will or should
act upon that resolution, and we have made that clear to all the
parties involved,’ said Clinton.

Tert.am

urkey.html?ref=global-home

Turkey Says Genocide Vote Will Impair U.S. Ties

By SEBNEM ARSU and BRIAN KNOWLTON

Published: March 5, 2010

ISTANBUL – Turkey’s foreign minster said Friday that a vote by the House
Foreign Affairs Committee condemning as genocide the mass killing of
Armenians early in the last century by the Ottoman army would damage ties
with the Obama administration and set back reconciliation efforts between
Turkey and Armenia.

< rld/europe/05armenia.html?ref=europe>
House Panel Says Armenian Deaths Were Genocide (March 5, 2010)

"Each interference by a third party will make this normalization
impossible," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a televised press
conference. "If an adviser had whispered ‘no’ instead of ‘yes’ in the ear of
a member of the House of Representatives, the vote would have come out
differently. Can history be treated in such an unserious manner?"

Thursday’s vote on the nonbinding resolution, a perennial point of friction
addressing a dark, century-old chapter of Turkish history, was 23 to 22.

A similar resolution passed by a slightly wider margin in 2007, but the Bush
administration, fearful of losing Turkish cooperation over Iraq, lobbied
forcefully to keep it from reaching the House floor. Whether this resolution
will reach a floor vote remains unclear. The Obama administration had urged
the committee to forgo a vote altogether.

Turkey reacted sharply, recalling its ambassador to Washington, Namik
Tan, in a display of annoyance. Turkey is a critical United States
ally in NATO, but the question of Armenian genocide taps deep veins of
national pride.

Mr. Davutoglu criticized the Obama administration for failing to explain the
strength of cooperation between Turkey and the United States, and said that
in absence of more effective efforts from Washington, "the picture ahead
will not be a positive one."

Last October, Turkey and Armenia began the first diplomatic attempt to
normalize relations with a series of agreements, but Mr. Davutoglu said that
votes like Thursday’s were a blow to their efforts to build a peaceful
region for future generations.

Turkey’s newspapers headlined the news of the vote – and Turkey’s diplomatic
response – on their front pages.

"We called the ambassador back," proclaimed Hurriyet, Turkey’s largest
circulation newspaper. "A vote crisis with the United States," Milliyet,
another daily, said. "A vote like a comedy," read a headline in Sabah
newspaper.

Some Turkish analysts said Ankara might put up diplomatic obstacles for
Washington’s broader regional policies.

"On one side of the scale, there is the Congress under the influence of
ethnic lobby groups and on the other, there are the greater United States
interests in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Caucasus," said Sedat Ergin, a
foreign policy analyst of the Hurriyet newspaper. "It is up to the American
administration to come up with the best choice between the two."

Historians say that as many as 1.5 million Armenians died amid the
chaos and unrest surrounding World War I and the disintegration of the
Ottoman Empire. Turkey denies, however, that this was a planned
genocide, and mounted a vigorous lobbying campaign against the
resolution.

The Armenian issue has long been a taboo in Turkey and only recently has
there been some cautious, public debate partly as a result of reforms on
free speech prompted by Turkey’s desire to join the European Union.

While writers and intellectuals, including the Nobel laureate Orhan
Pamuk, have faced criminal charges for airing the debate, the number
of such cases has been dwindling over the years. Mr. Pamuk faced
criminal charges of "insulting Turkishness" after a 2005 magazine
interview in which he condemned the genocide and the killing of Kurds
by Turkey in the 1980s. The charges were dropped, but many
nationalists have not forgiven Mr. Pamuk.

Last October, Turkey and Armenia agreed to establish an impartial
international historical commission to study the available archives of the
period. In 2008, Turkey’s president paid the first visit by a Turkish leader
to Armenia in the two nations’ history.

Sebnem Arsu reported from Istanbul, and Brian Knowlton from Washington.

ERDOGAN URGES THE USA TO EXERCISE "COMMON SENSE"

3/erdogan
02:38 pm | March 03, 2010

Politics

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday urged the
Obama administration to exercise "common sense" in dealing with the
Armenian Genocide Resolution slated for a vote in the U.S .House
Foreign Affairs Committee.

Erdogan made the statement during a meeting of ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP).

The Turkish premier noted that historic facts must be studied by
historians and not by political figures.

"I hope the House of Representatives will act with common sense in
the face of such an issue that should be left to historians. I hope
that American-Turkish partnership, warmer than ever, will not be
harmed by such initiatives," Erdogan said.

"I trust the leadership and common sense of [President Barack]
Obama, who is closely following the ongoing normalization efforts
with Armenia and urge to research genocide claims not at the House
of Representatives but at universities and archives," he added.

According to Azatutyun Radio Station, official Ankara has made
similar appeals to Washington for three times this week. The other two
statements were pronounced by Turkey’s Foreign Ministry and Parliament.

Turkey has threatened that any House or Senate adoption of a resolution
recognizing the Armenian Genocide would lead to a major and lasting
deterioration in relations with the United States.

ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT IN GLOBAL INTELLECT MONITORING LIST

Panorama.am
11:51 04/03/2010

Society

Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul
are included in the list by "Global Intellect Monitoring", which
named 100 minds that mattered most in 2009 and had the big ideas that
shaped our world. Armenian and Turkish Presidents are named to make
the first steps to challenge a civilized conflict.

According to "Yerkramas" two Armenians have also been included in
the list of 100 big thinkers – economist Sergey Eghishyan and expert
Andrey Areshev.

It’s worth mentioning that Foreign Policy magazine publishing the
list discovered that no candidate from the post Soviet Era has even
been named. Global Intellect Monitoring decided to include people
from this region who have had influence on the big issues.

TATEV FUNICULAR TO OPEN IN OCTOBER

nicular
05:23 pm | March 03, 2010

Official

Armenia’s Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received a delegation of the
ARTOC Group for Investment and Development (Egypt) led by President
Shafik Gabr.

The Armenian Premier said he is well aware of the company’s investment
programs and appreciates them highly. Speaking of bilateral cooperation
and investments, the Armenian Premier pointed out the priority of
developing science-intensive technologies.

In this context, the sides underlined the importance of establishing
industrial and business parks. The interlocutors also discussed the
issue of developing broadband Internet and underlined the importance
of creating free economic zones. The Armenian Premier pointed out
that the RA Government approved a program of forming an e-society.

At the request of his guest, Minister Sargsyan presented issues
related to Armenia’s economic development and South Caucasian region,
consequences of global financial crises.

Tigran Sargsyan invited the delegation to attend the opening ceremony
of the world’s longest funicular in Tatev, Armenia, in October of
this year.

CLINTON SAYS GENOCIDE RESOLUTION WAS INAPPROPRIATE

armradio.am
05.03.2010 18:25

The Obama administration believes the passage of the Armenian Genocide
resolution on Thursday was inappropriate, U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton said.

"We have made that clear to all parties involved," she said, while
responding to a question about the resolution in the U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.

A journalist asked: "Before entering the administration, both you
and President Obama supported the campaign to label 1915 incidents as
‘genocide.’ In recent days, both you and he have made direct appeals to
Howard Berman, the chairman of the House’s Foreign Affairs Committee,
against the draft resolution. Could you explain why you and the
president have reversed course on this issue?"

Clinton responded: "Well, I think circumstances have changed in very
significant ways. When President Obama took office and I became
secretary of state, we determined that the process undertaken by
Switzerland in bringing the Turkish and Armenian governments together
was a very worthy one that we intended to support, and we have done
so. I was personally in Zurich at the time when the protocols for
the normalization of the relationship between the two countries were
signed. We think that is the appropriate way to manage the problems
that have stood in the way of normalization between the two countries.

"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," she said.

Clinton said, "Therefore, President Obama and I have made clear,
both last year and again this year, that we do not believe any action
by the Congress is appropriate, and we oppose it. We do not believe
that the full Congress will or should act upon that resolution, and
we have made that clear to all the parties involved," the Hurriyet
Daily News reports.

DASHNAKCUTYUN: RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE NOT ANTI-TURKISH POLICY

ARKA
March 5, 2010

YEREVAN, March 5. / ARKA /. The policy of international recognition
of the Armenian Genocide is not anti-Turkish, said a representative of
the Supreme Body of Dashnakcutyun, chairman of the Standing Committee
of the Armenian Parliament on Foreign Relations Armen Rustamyan.

"Turkey must understand that the process of international recognition
of the Armenian Genocide is not an anti-Turkish process. This is
a policy condemning crimes against humanity. No one considers the
recognition of the Holocaust as an anti-German policy," Roustamyan
said on Friday at a press conference at the International Press
Center Novosti.

Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. Congress approved the
resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide on March 4.

For the adoption of the resolution on the Armenian Genocide there
were 23 congressmen, and 22 were against it.

The document, consisting of 30-points document (resolution number 252)
calls upon the U.S. President to accept decent decisions on those
matters that relate to human rights and freedoms, ethnic cleansing
and the genocide of Armenians.

According to the deputy, Turkey considers the process of recognition
of the Genocide as being aimed against the Turkish state and people
and constantly imposes sanctions, including economic ones as well,
against countries that recognize the Genocide, and classifies some
states to the number of its enemies.

As Roustamyan recalled, it is precisely for this reason that some U.S.

corporations fearing multi-billion dollar losses have requested not
to vote on the resolution.

A number of corporate aviation and military industries in the U.S.

have sent letters to lawmakers of the U.S. Congress, urging not to
adopt a resolution on the Armenian Genocide on the eve of voting on
a resolution recognizing the genocide.

Armenian genocide (1915-1923) was the first genocide committed in
XX century.

Turkey rejects the accusation of massacres and the killing of one
and a half million Armenians during World War I.

As a result of massacres and deportations about 1.5 million people
were killed, 350 thousands of Armenians fled to the Caucasus and Europe
and 150 thousand of the 2 million Armenians were left in Turkey living
there at the beginning of XX century.

The fact of the Armenian genocide is recognized by many countries,
particularly by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, 42 of the 50 U.S.

states, as well as by the parliaments of Greece, Cyprus, Argentina,
Belgium, Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Common House of
Canada, the Seym of Poland and lower house of Italian parliament.

CONGRESS DECISION ‘TO FORCE’ TURKEY TO TAKE RESPONSE MEASURES

news.az
March 5 2010
Azerbaijan

Cem Oguz Turkish politician Cem Oguz commented on yesterday’s decision
of the Congress on the "Armenian genocide".

"Unfortunately, a period of crisis in the Turkish-American relations
is now emerging, which is caused by the authors of the resolution
on ‘Armenian genocide’ rather than Turkey. This decision will force
Turkey to take response actions, said head of the Center for Strategic
Studies in Turkey Cem Oguz.

"Turkey may consider various options for response. For example,
it may deprive the United States of the access to Turkish air base
in Incirlik, which plays a key role in the US military operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, Turkey may reduce trading with the
United States. That is, we will think about various options before
taking response actions", said Cem Oguz.

As for the impact of this decision on the Karabakh conflict, the
Turkish politician noted that this issue is still frozen. "Everything
has entered a deadlock due to Armenia’s position in this issue.

President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly requested and demanded from the
international community to influence the position of the Armenians,
but, unfortunately, we have never seen them in action. The OSCE Minsk
Group is reportedly showing the activity, but no results are seen. Of
course, this cannot last long, while patience is unlimited too.

Instead of investigating historical events, it would be better if
the international community spares effort for solving the Karabakh
problem, and it would have been solved long before", he said.

Asked about the future of Turkish-Armenian protocols, Oguz said
that the chances for their adoption have reduced to zero after the
resolution was passed: "These protocols would have never been passed
by the parliament, while now their ratification will become even
more problematic".

However, the Turkish expert did not predict a quick withdrawal of
the protocols from the parliament: "Here we should show the calm and
careful approach, monitor the situation and take steps that will meet
Turkey’s interests".

U.S. ARMENIA GENOCIDE VOTE LOOMS, ANGERING TURKEY
Susan Cornwell and Arshad Mohammed

Reuters
March 4 2010
UK

Tue, Mar 2 2010WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. congressional panel headed
on Thursday toward a vote on calling a 1915 massacre of Armenians by
Ottoman forces genocide despite a plea from the Obama administration
to drop the matter and defuse a dispute with Turkey.

The issue puts President Barack Obama between NATO ally Turkey,
which rejects calling the events genocide, and an important U.S.

Armenian-American constituency and their backers in Congress ahead
of a November congressional election.

Turkey has said its ties with the United States would be damaged and
that Ankara’s efforts to normalize relations with Armenia could be
endangered if the resolution is passed when the House Foreign Affairs
Committee votes on Thursday.

One Turkish government official said Turkey was open to all options
— including the recall of its ambassador to Washington — if the
congressional panel approves the legislation.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned House Foreign Affairs
Committee Chairman Howard Berman, a Democrat, on Wednesday to argue
that the legislation could harm efforts to normalize Turkish-Armenian
relations, the White House said.

"Secretary Clinton called Chairman Berman … and in that conversation
the secretary indicated that further congressional action could
impede progress on normalization of relations," said National Security
Council spokesman Mike Hammer.

Turkey and Armenia signed a protocol last year to normalize relations
but the papers are yet to pass through the parliament of either
country.

Turkey is an important ally whose help the United States needs to
solve confrontations from Iran to Afghanistan.

Despite Clinton’s appeal, Berman went ahead with a hearing on the
issue.

"Turkey is a vital and, in most respects, a loyal ally of the United
States in a volatile region," Berman, an influential member of Congress
because of his chairmanship of the foreign affairs committee, said
at the start of the hearing.

"Be that as it may, nothing justifies Turkey’s turning a blind eye
to the reality of the Armenian genocide," he added.

"Germany has accepted responsibility for the Holocaust. South Africa
set up a Truth Commission to look at Apartheid. And here at home, we
continue to grapple with the legacies of slavery and our horrendous
treatment of Native Americans," he added.

"It is now time for Turkey to accept the reality of the Armenian
genocide."

FRIENDS IN THE AREA

Muslim Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians were killed by
Ottoman forces but denies that up to 1.5 million died and that it
amounted to genocide — a term employed by many Western historians
and some foreign parliaments.

Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican, said there was "no question
horrible things happened," but urged voting against the resolution.

"We need to have as many friends in that part of the world as
possible. And Turkey has been a friend," Burton said.

The non-binding resolution, to be voted on by the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, would call on Obama to ensure U.S. policy formally refers
to the massacre as "genocide" and to use that term when he delivers
his annual message on the issue in April — something Obama avoided
doing last year.

The panel approved a similar bill in 2007 but it was never put to a
full House vote amid fears it would alienate Turkey.

Similar resolutions have been introduced in many past sessions of
Congress but have never passed both houses. Ronald Reagan was the
only U.S. president to publicly call the killings genocide.

(Additional reporting by Zerin Elci in Ankara, Writing by Thomas
Grove and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

PROFITING FROM GENOCIDE DENIAL: DEFENSE INDUSTRY CEO’S URGE CONGRESS TO OPPOSE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LEGISLATION

Yerkir
04.03.2010 16:00

Yerevan (Yerkir) – Placing profit over human rights, the Chief
Executive Officers of five top defense firms have urged Congress to
block a measure calling for U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

"Lobbying against genocide recognition for financial gain is morally
reprehensible – whether it’s the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust
or the ongoing genocide in Darfur," said ANCA Executive Director
Aram Hamparian. "The CEO’s of Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon, United
Technologies and Northrop Grumman should be ashamed of themselves –
trampling on the memory of 1.5 million men, women and children to
justify their salaries."

In a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman,
just days before his Committee considers H.Res.252 – the Armenian
Genocide resolution , leaders of Lockheed Martin Corporation,
Boeing Corporation, Raytheon Corporation, United Technologies and
Northrop Grumman warned of "alienating a significant NATO ally and
trading partner" and "negative repercussions for U.S. geopolitical
interests."

However trade statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development tell a different story. Turkey’s trade levels with
countries, which have recognized the Armenian Genocide since 1995,
have increased between 24% and 351%. U.S. trade with Turkey has
increased ten-fold since President Ronald Reagan cited the Armenian
Genocide in a Presidential Proclamation in 1981.

"The statistics prove that Turkey’s doomsday trade scenarios are
hollow," said Hamparian. "Once again, the Turkish lobby is using
threats and intimidation to gag America from speaking truthfully
about the Armenian Genocide."

Spearheaded by Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA), George Radanovich
(R-CA), and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), the Armenian
Genocide Resolution H.Res.252, calls upon the President to properly
characterize the annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915-1923
as genocide and to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States
reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues
related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.

The resolution currently has over 137 cosponsors. While in the Senate,
President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joseph Biden and Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton had supported similar legislation.