Author: Topchian Jane

EU-ARMENIA COOPERATION 8th SITTING HELD IN LUXEMBURG

Noyan Tapan
Oct 16, 2007

LUXEMBURG, OCTOBER 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The EU-Armenia Cooperation
8th sitting was held on October 18 in Luxemburg. The Armenian
interdepartmental delegation was led by RA Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanian. On the part of Europe the sitting was presided over by Manuil
Lobo Antunish, the Portuguese State Secretary for European Issues.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry Press and
Information Department, the process of implementation of Armenia-EU
Actions Plan of EU New Neighborhood Policy, issues of political,
economic, and energy cooperation were discussed at the sitting. Among
the political issues, a special attention was paid to settlement of
conflicts, process of reforms being implemented in Armenia, upcoming
presidential elections, and human rights.

V. Oskanian stated that Armenia is resolute to continue painful,
but necessary reforms, to bring political standards closer to the
European level. He said that the New Neighborhood Policy implemented
with EU is a guideline for Armenia’s economic reforms.

Mentioning that Armenia is gradually and consistently becoming closer
to Europe in the respect of development of democracy, State Secretary
M. Antunish reaffirmed EU’s readiness to continue all-round assistance
to Armenia. He emphasized that EU expects bolder steps, in particular,
pointing out to media’s role in the preelection period.

IRAQ: BISHOP NEGOTIATES FOR KIDNAPPED PRIESTS

Compass Direct News, CA
ad&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5072
Oct 15 2007

Islamists threaten Christians in Mosul. Father Pius Affas and Father
Mazen Ishoa

ISTANBUL, October 15 (Compass Direct News) – An Iraqi bishop said
today that he is negotiating for the release of two Christian clergymen
kidnapped in Mosul this weekend.

Syrian Catholic Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa said that he had
spoken by telephone with the priests’ captors at 4 p.m. local time.

"Until now, we do not have any sign of the liberation of the two
priests," Casmoussa said. "We continue to pray and hope."

A source close to the archbishop said that the kidnappers had demanded
an enormous ransom, widely reported as $1 million. Casmoussa denied
media reports today that Father Pius Affas, 68, and Father Mazen Ishoa,
newly ordained and in his 30s, had been released.

Unknown men abducted the Syrian Catholic priests in Mosul’s Hay
al-Thawra neighborhood on Saturday afternoon (October 13). The
clergymen had gone to the area following the death of an elderly
parishioner.

"We are very afraid because [the kidnappers] are criminals, and
sometimes they take money and kill the priest also," a church source
said.

One year ago, the decapitated body of Syrian Orthodox priest Boulos
Iskander was found in a northern suburb of Mosul after his family
had paid a $40,000 ransom for his release.

A Syrian Catholic priest told Compass today that Fr. Affas’ Mosul
parish had received written threats from Muslim extremists prior to
the kidnapping.

An Islamist group called Jihad and Tawhid had left threat letters
at Fr. Affas’ St. Thomas church about two months ago, warning the
congregation to leave.

"If you do not leave this church we will attack," the letter stated,
according to the clergyman. The priest said that the threat had
frightened away the church’s volunteer guards.

Gentle Spirit

Fr. Affas, originally from Mosul, grew up with Archbishop Casmoussa,
and the two attended seminary together.

"He is well known in Mosul, very active and the head of many young
movements," Casmoussa said.

Ordained in 1962, Fr. Affas spent 30 years as editor-in-chief of
Arabic-language Christian magazine Christian Thoughts. Upon their
ordination, Casmoussa said that he and Fr. Affas founded Priests of
Christ the King, a community for clergymen.

"Now he’s the rector for Mosul’s Biblical Center for lay people,"
Casmoussa said. "We were planning to open the center to students this
coming Friday."

Fr. Ishoa hails from the predominantly Syrian Catholic village of
Qaraqosh, 20 miles southeast of Mosul. The clergyman was ordained on
September 1 after graduating from St. Peter’s Seminary in Ankawa with
a Bachelor in Theological Studies, Casmoussa said.

He said that the young priest has been involved in serving physically
handicapped people. According to Father Bashar Warda, dean of the
seminary, Fr. Ishoa is known for his gentle spirit and for his poetry.

Pope Benedict XVI yesterday launched an appeal for the release of
the two priests during a Sunday blessing at the Vatican.

Ongoing violence in Mosul, the biblical city of Nineveh, has caused
many from the city’s historical Christian community to flee. One
Syrian Catholic priest told Compass that between 15 and 20 families
leave the city each week.

Amid violence that has affected all of Iraq’s people groups, Christians
and other religious minorities have been specifically targeted.

Now heading up efforts for the two priests’ release, Casmoussa himself
was kidnapped in January 2005 and released a day later. The clergyman
denied reports that his church paid ransom money for his release.

Previous Violence

Another 11 priests have been kidnapped or killed in Iraq since
July 2006.

Seven clergymen abducted in separate incidents in Baghdad were freed
after a ransom was paid for their release.

But in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, militants killed two
priests and a Protestant church elder during the past year.

On October 13, the same day as Fr. Ishoa and Fr. Affas’ abduction,
church leaders in Erbil opened a medical center to commemorate
a Chaldean priest gunned down in June. Assailants in Mosul shot
Ragheed Ganni and three church deacons on June 3 in front of one of
the deacon’s wives.

Iraqi Christian website ankawa.com reported that the attackers murdered
Ganni only after he refused to convert to Islam.

Armenian Christians in Baghdad have confirmed reports that two elderly
Armenian brothers were brutally murdered in their Baghdad home two
weeks ago. Unknown attackers used wire to strangle Ebrahim Sahak
Sarkis, 70, and Owanis Sarkis, 64, in their al-Habibiya district home
on September 30, according to ankawa.com.

Armenian sources in Baghdad confirmed the October 9 report that the
men’s limbs had been cut off and their bodies maimed. Motives for
the attack remain unclear.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has estimated that
at least 2 million Iraqis have fled the country since 2003 and another
2 million are internally displaced.

Christians made up 3 percent of Iraq’s population before the toppling
of Saddam Hussein in 2003, but hundreds of thousands have since fled
their homes amid the anarchic violence throughout much of the country.

Syrian Catholics belong to an eastern rite church in communion
with Rome.

U.S. SENDS AMBASSADORS TO TURKEY FOR DAMAGE CONTROL

MEMRI, DC
Oct 15 2007

The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates sent their assistants Eric Edelman and Dan Fried
to Ankara yesterday, while they were on a visit to Moscow.

The two officials made contacts in Ankara and met with a committee
led by the Undersecretary of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ertuðrul Apakan. Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman, who is a
former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, said: "We are sorry for the Armenian
bill. We want to overcome this period without any damages.

The U.S. government is concerned about possible harm to our strategic
relations, and will do its best to prevent the passing of the Armenian
bill in the House."

Referring to the Turkey’s fight against PKK terrorism, Edelman said,
"We will communicate to Iraq Turkey’s determination to fight the PKK
in every way and we will remind them of the U.N. rules."

Ertugrul Apakan stated that the Armenian bill humiliates the Turkish
nation and added that the U.S. has the responsibility to stop it.

–Boundary_(ID_PW7Q/pqEEibD9RZ9l/iitg)–

RIGHT INTENTIONS, WRONG TIME
Vivian Salama, a producer and blogger

Washington Post
Oct 15 2007

The decision by a United States congressional panel to recognize
the genocide of Armenians in Turkey during World War I is a classic
example of being in the right place at the wrong time.

A great number of experts worldwide have concluded that the atrocities
that occurred between 1915 and 1923 resulted from the Ottoman Empire’s
deliberate actions to exterminate this particular minority group,
which represented both political and religious opposition to Ottoman
rule. Acrimony between Turks and Armenians has stretched back over
several centuries.

Historical accounts by Western researchers have revealed that Ottoman
troops and paramilitaries killed tens of thousands of men, women and
children and left hundreds of thousands more to die of starvation
or exposure to harsh weather. The Turkish government maintains that
these people were victims of civil war and unrest, adding that the
many Muslim Turks died as well. Most scholars agree that the number
of deaths is irrelevant; however numerous the victims, the Ottoman
government sought to annihilate them people on the basis of their
ethnicity.

What does that mean for Turkey? Technically speaking, the passing of
this US legislation does not bind Turkey to take any legal action.

Among Ankara’s concerns is that recognition will empower the Armenian
lobby to seek reparations. Turkey also worries – legitimately – that
having genocide on its record will hurt its chances of European Union
integration. Last year, the French government adopted a bill making
it a crime to deny the Armenian genocide, emphasizing that Turkey
must recognize the Armenian deaths as genocide before it enters the EU.

To recognize such atrocities is learn from them. The Turkish government
of today is not the Ottoman regime of 100 years ago, and we must not
confuse the two. Turks have a deep-rooted sense of nationalism and many
Turkish analysts argue that the country will not bear the burden of
a genocide in the way several other countries have done. (An example:
Article 301 of Turkey’s controversial penal code, which took effect on
June 1, 2005, states: "A person who publicly denigrates Turkishness,
the Republic or the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, shall be
punishable by imprisonment of between six months and three years.")

The decision by the House to push for genocide recognition at this
point in time is a bit perplexing. The Democrats took a contentious
stand against an ally in the belief that what they were doing was
right. It was an opportunity to reassert their majority status and
undermine the Bush Administration’s foreign policy.

But can America afford to burn any more bridges in the region? Turkey
has long served as a strategic ally to the United States. Despite
refusing to allow U.S. forces to use their soil for staging the
ground war that would topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, Turkey permits
the use of Incirlik Air Base and roads. These privileges, according to
U.S. Secretary of State Robert Gates, would "very much be put at risk"
by recognizing the genocide. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
said Turkey may retaliate by shutting the flow of material to Iraq and
even Afghanistan. The country continues to amass troops on its border
with Iraq and has said that it will take all necessary measures against
Kurdish separatists, whom it suspects are hiding in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The escalating sectarian violence at Turkey’s doorstep undoubtedly
adds to EU concerns. While it is unlikely that the violence will
spill across the Iraq-Turkey border, Kurdish involvement may bring
this war too close for Europe’s comfort and further complicate
the coalition struggle in Iraq. Turkey has thus far held back from
getting directly involved, mainly due to U.S. persuasion. However,
the Turkish government views the genocide resolution as a major slap
in the face; given the tone emanating from Ankara these last few days,
there is no telling what retaliatory measures they will take.

The ruling has been a long time coming, so it is certainly a battle won
in the Armenian fight for justice. For the Turks, it is an added hurdle
on the road to EU integration but a power card in their relationship
with the United States. For America, it is just another setback in
what has become a regional struggle.

Blaming Turkey: Does it help?
by George Gregoriou
Greek News
October 15, 2007
me=3DNews&file=3Darticle&sid=3D7485

Mayb e we are doing it for our own consolation. Ankara has not changed
its policy on Cyprus for more than half-a-century, nor its claim on
the Aegean Sea and Air Space. With more violations, the Greeks become
more defensive, and the more we shout at each other and appeal to the
powers that be to put a leash on Ankara. The Turks have the military
power to carry on the occupation in Cyprus and the violations in the
Aegean. This policy has the support of Washington and London, both
powers being critical in the Aegean confrontation and a Cyprus
settlement. This support is in the form of billions of dollars in
economic aid and weapons, to make Turkey a strategic regional
power/ally to control the oil resources in the Middle East and the
Cold War (II) to encircle Russia.

Criticism is fine when dealing with a civilized people who readily
respond to criticism because the insults become more insulting when
they are repeated. The ruling circles in Ankara show no such
signs. They are not troubled by criticism nor insulted by the
insults. Take the genocide of the Armenians in 1915. The response of
Ankara to any Turkish intellectual referring to the genocide in 1915
as a historical fact is criminal charges and imprisonmentfor insulting
Turkishness. In the case of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, not
only he was charged with committing a crime, he was assassinated by a
young Turk, who in his words: `I killed a non-Muslim.’ The new
president and foreign minister of Turkey want a new makeover for
Turkey, to improve her image for the EU. I will not hold my breath,
even if there are changes in Article 301. The silencing of critics
and threats to foreign governments will go on fora long time.

Anyway, why limit the charges of genocide against the Armenians in
1915? For the first time The New York Times referred to the Armenian
genocide from 1915 to 1918, not just 1915, on October 4, 2007. How
about from the 1870s to 1918? This genocide includes not only
Armenians, but Greeks, Assyrians, and other Christians, since the
beginning of the 19th Century. The genocide was intensified when the
Empire was on the verge of collapse, from the 1870s tothe 1920s. At
Lausanne, the Allies gave the Turks general amnesty for the political
and criminal crimes committed from 1914 to 1922. Why? The Allies were
interested in securing the territorial plundering of the Ottoman
Empire, have Turkey on their side against the new enemy, the
Bolsheviks, and the smell of oil in the Middle East.

A research on the genocide of the Greeks is being assembled for
publication in Europe. Why is this research important? It is part of a
larger movement to force Ankara to recognize the butchering of these
subjects and pay reparations for loss of life and property, to the
descendants, or stay outof Europe.

What makes this issue even more important is that the political winds
in the European Union are against Turkish membership, for a variety of
reasons, include the genocide of the Armenians. The genocide of
Greeks, Assyrians, and Kurds will be added to the list.

The solution to the Cyprus problem is part of this struggle. There is
only one message that needs to be conveyed to Ankara, from Nicosia and
Athens. This message has to be conveyed, loud and clear. Without a
Cyprus settlement, there will be no membership in the EU. I would go a
step further. There will be no naval bases for the United States in
Greece. Let Ankara and its enablers in Washington and Europe worry
about the effects of shutting the door to Turkey¹s membership in the
EU. Turkey will be in trouble. So would Washington, its geopolitical
strategy to control the oil in the Middle East. Turkey, with the soft
Islamists in power could easily turn on into a hard-core Islamist
country. This would be a big headache for Washington, already in
trouble in Iraq, Syria, Iran, and the Middle East. Washington can
understand where the nail pinches in the shoe.

Thirty-three years of occupation in Cyprus is more than enough. The
daily violations of the Greece¹s airspace and territorial waters in
the Aegean has to end, or at least settle it according to the existing
international legalities and practice. The denial that genocide was
committed against Christians (Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, Slavs, and
other Christian groups) for over100 years will not make it go away. It
requires recognition and closure, for the descendants of those
deported and/or massacred, 33% of the Ottoman population in 1900. Over
100,000 of these Christians are in Turkey today. Not only the
Europeans do not want Turkey in the EU, Cyprus and Greece have the
veto asa last resort.

Being nice and toeing the Washington line by holding the hand of
Ankara to the EU doorsteps at Brussels did very little for the
Greeks. Even the koumparato of Costas Karamanlis with Erdogan or
changing the history booksto be more Muslim-friendly on the
deportation and massacre of Greeks at the turn of the last century and
the burning of Smyrna did not modify Turkish behavior.

Turkish government behavior is friendly until the ink on the signature
dries. It happened at Lausanne in 1923 and the rapprochement between
Venizelos and Ataturk in 1931. The 100,000 Greeks in Istanbul,
unaffected by the forced exchange of population after the defeat in
Asia Minor, are now 2,500-3,000.The tax law in 1942, the pogroms, and
the expulsions in the 1950s and 1960s forced these Greeks (plus
Armenians, and Jews) to pack up and leave with their suitcases. Enough
is enough!

George Gregoriou
Professor, Critical Theory and Geopolitics

Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
October 11, 2007 Thursday 5:33 PM MSK

Armenian NPP shut off a day earlier than scheduled

Armenia’s Armyanskaya nuclear power plant was shut off for planned
repairs on Wednesday evening, a day earlier than scheduled, due to
technical problems, the plant’s management and the Armenian
Environmental Protection Ministry’s nuclear energy watchdog,
Gosatomnadzor, said in a joint statement.

"On October 10 at 10:32 p.m., a short circuit occurred in a 220-
kilovolt power supply line connecting the Armyanskaya NPP to the
country’s electricity system," the statement said.

"The safety system of the plant’s second power generating unit turned
on automatically. No faults or deviations from nuclear or radiation
security were registered," the document said.

The planned shutdown for repairs and refueling was initially due on
October 12.

Annual prophylactic repairs will be carried out, about 100 fuel
cassettes will be charged with fresh fuel and compulsory measures to
enhance the plant’s safety will be taken, while the plant remains
closed for 45 days.

The Armyanskaya NPP has two Russian-made VVER-440 power generating
units with a total capacity of 815 megawatts. The first unit was
brought into operation in 1976 and the second in 1980. The plant was
frozen for political reasons in early 1989 and restarted in 1995. It
accounts for nearly a half of Armenia’s domestic energy consumption.

In 2003, INTER-RAO UES, Russia’s major electricity import and export
operator, was entrusted with running the plant for 5 years.

A1+

OMBUDSMAN CONDEMNS RECENT ENCROACHMENT
[05:12 pm] 12 October, 2007

RA Ombudsman Armen Harutiunian condemns the recent encroachment on a
journalist.

To remind, yesterday unknown people assailed Ruzan Minasyan, a
journalist of `Aravot’ daily.

Armen Harutiunian considers the recurring assault irrelevant with
which has taken the track for democracy and the rule of law.

"If a journalist’s activity stirs up intolerance among public, the
matter should be solved in a legal way. Any assault jeopardizes the
independence of free media and endangers the country’s reputation."

Süddeutsche Zeitung
12. Oktober 2007

Worte, die Unheil anrichten;
Die Armenien-Resolution des US-Kongresses spielt den türkischen
Nationalisten in die Hände

Von Kai Strittmatter

Auch eine kaputte Uhr zeigt zweimal am Tag die richtige Zeit an, sagt
ein türkisches Sprichwort. Dem amerikanischen Präsidenten muss auch
derjenige manchmal recht geben, der ansonsten nicht viel von ihm
hält. Am Mittwoch sagte George W. Bush das Richtige. "Diese
Resolution ist nicht die rechte Antwort auf die historischen
Massaker", warnte er den Auswärtigen Ausschuss des
Repräsentantenhauses. Gleich danach tat der Ausschuss das Falsche: Er
erklärte die türkischen Massaker an den Armeniern nach 1915 offiziell
zum "Völkermord".

Nun gibt es nicht wenige Historiker, die diese Einschätzung teilen.
Und ja, die meisten Türken, Regierung wie Volk, sind unter dem
Einfluss einer manipulierten Geschichtsschreibung noch immer nicht
bereit, sich dem zu stellen, was damals wirklich geschehen ist im
Osmanischen Reich, dem Vorgängerstaat der heutigen Republik: die
Vernichtung und Vertreibung der Armenier aus Anatolien. Der Beschluss
aus Washington kommt also moralisch wohlfeil daher – und trotzdem ist
er mehr als nur überflüssig.

Er könnte großen Schaden anrichten, und zwar auf gleich zwei Ebenen:
Sabotiert werden fundamentale realpolitische Interessen, sabotiert
werden aber auch die Bemühungen um Wahrheitsfindung in der Türkei
selbst. Zuerst zur Realpolitik: Nicht weniger als acht frühere
US-Außenminister, unter ihnen Madeleine Albright und Henry Kissinger,
haben gegen die Resolution gekämpft. Denn die USA und der Westen
brauchen die Türkei als zuverlässigen Verbündeten. Das Land unterhält
die zweitgrößte Armee innerhalb der Nato und ist ein wichtiger Anker
der Stabilität in einer zunehmend feindseligen und instabilen Region.
Ein großer Teil des Nachschubs für die US-Truppen gelangt durch die
Türkei in den Irak und nach Afghanistan. Schon drohen in Ankara
manche damit, die US-Luftwaffenbasis im türkischen Incirlik zu
schließen.

Fatal ist jedoch vor allem der Zeitpunkt: Die Resolution fällt in
eine ansteigende Welle von anti-amerikanischer und anti-westlicher
Rhetorik in der Türkei. "Dafür werden sie bezahlen!", war die
Schlagzeile der Zeitung Vatan am Donnerstag. Vor allem die Tatsache,
dass die USA nichts gegen die PKK-Terrorgruppen im Irak unternehmen,
die von dort aus Anschläge in der Türkei planen, hat viele Türken
verbittert. Es wird kaum ein Zufall sein, dass die Entscheidung
Ankaras für grenzüberschreitende Militäroperationen in den Nordirak
zusammenfällt mit der Resolution in Washington. Erdogan steht nach
blutigen PKK-Angriffen zunehmend unter Druck von nationalistischen
und militaristischen Kreisen im Land, die ihn wegen seiner bisherigen
Politik der Mäßigung stets als Büttel der Amerikaner verhöhnten.

Nun feiert vor allem die armenische Diaspora die Resolution als Sieg
der Moral über die Interessenpolitik. Doch die Sache ist
komplizierter. In den vergangenen Jahren ist in der Türkei
Denkwürdiges geschehen. Die alten Tabus haben Risse bekommen,
Intellektuelle, Autoren und Journalisten drängen auf eine echte
Aufarbeitung der Massaker. Erstmals wurden Konferenzen zu den
Armenier-Morden abgehalten, Romane zu dem Thema veröffentlicht. Bei
den zaghaften Versuchen, die Vergangenheit aufzuarbeiten, helfen die
Resolutionen ausländischer Parlamente nicht. Im Gegenteil, sie
spielen den Nationalisten und Leugnern in die Hände. Nicht umsonst
hat der armenischstämmige Istanbuler Journalist Hrant Dink vor seiner
Ermordung stets gesagt: Ja, es war Völkermord – aber, um Himmels
willen, verschont uns mit euren Resolutionen.

Die Dinge drohen nun aus dem Ruder zu laufen, auf beiden Seiten des
Atlantiks. Aber noch ist es nicht zu spät. Das amerikanische
Repräsentantenhaus selbst wird erst im November über die Resolution
abstimmen. Es sollte dem Ausschuss nicht folgen.

Adnkronos International Italia, Italy
Oct 12 2007

US: Turkey recalls ambassador over Armenian genocide vote

Washington, 12 Oct. (AKI) – In protest at a vote by US legislators
this week to label the 1915-1917 mass killings of Armenians as
"genocide", Turkey is recalling its ambassador to Washington, Nabi
Sensoy, for consultations.

`This is a normal affair, especially after certain important
developments take place’ said Sensoy.

He described as "one sided" the resolution passed by a vote of 27 to
21 in the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee on
Wednesday.

`People think it is only the Armenians who perished during the events
of 1915. They forget that hundreds of thousands of Turks also
perished at the hand of the Armenians,’ Sensoy said.

A foreign ministry spokesman said Sensoy was expected to stay "a week
to 10 days" in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

A visit by Turkey’s naval chief to the US has also been cancelled.

Prime minister Tayip Erdogan, said that the Turkish government would
concentrate its efforts to stop the non-binding vote passed by the
Congressional committee being endorsed next month in the full House.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the vote will take place before
22 November.

`We have steps to take afterwards, however we will not announce these
today,’ said Erdogan.

Turkey is a regional operational hub for the US military, and some
suggest access to Incirlik airbase or other supply lines crucial to
US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan could be affected by the row.

Wednesday’s vote has been welcomed by Armenian president Robert
Kocharyan, who said he hoped for "full [US] recognition… of the
genocide."

The Register-Guard, OR
Oct 12 2007

Ethnic cleansing resolution criticized

By Christopher Torchia
The Associated Press

Published: Friday, October 12, 2007

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey, which is a key supply route to U.S. troops
in Iraq, recalled its ambassador to Washington on Wednesday and
warned of serious repercussions if Congress categorizes the killing
of Armenians by Turks a century ago as genocide.

Ordered after a House committee endorsed the genocide measure, the
summons of the ambassador for consultations was a further sign of the
deteriorating relations between two longtime allies and the potential
for new turmoil in an already troubled region.

Egeman Bagis, an aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told
Turkish media that Turkey – a conduit for many of the supplies
shipped to U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan – might have to `cut
logistical support to the U.S.’

Analysts also have speculated the resolution could make Turkey more
inclined to send troops into northern Iraq to hunt Turkish Kurd
rebels, a move opposed by the United States because it would disrupt
one of the few relatively stable and peaceful Iraqi areas.

`There are steps that we will take,’ Turkey’s prime minister told
reporters, but without elaboration. It also wasn’t clear whether he
meant his government would act immediately or wait to see what
happens to the resolution in Congress.

He declined to answer questions about whether Turkey might shut down
Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, a major cargo hub for U.S. and
allied military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey’s
Mediterranean port of Iskenderun is also used to ferry goods to U.S.
troops.

`You don’t talk about such things, you just do them,’ Erdogan said.

The measure before Congress is just a nonbinding resolution without
the force of law, but the debate has incensed Turkey’s government.

The relationship between the two NATO allies, whose troops fought
together in the Korean War in 1950-53, have stumbled in the past.

They hit a low in 2003, when Turkey’s parliament refused to allow
U.S. forces use of their country as a staging ground for the invasion
that toppled Saddam Hussein.

But while the threat of repercussions against the United States is
appealing for many Turks, the country’s leaders know such a move
could hurt Turkey’s standing as a reliable ally of the West.

Turkey’s ambassador in Washington, Nabi Sensoy, was ordered home for
discussions with the Turkish leadership about what is happening in
Congress, Foreign Minister spokesman Levent Bilman said. He said
Sensoy would go back after seven to 10 days.

`We are not withdrawing our ambassador,’ Bilman said. `The ambassador
was given instructions to return and will come at his earliest
convenience.’

The Bush administration, which is lobbying strongly in hopes of
persuading Congress to reject the resolution, stressed the need for
good relations with Turkey.

About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through
Turkey, as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military
there. U.S. bases also get water and other supplies carried in
overland by Turkish truckers who cross into Iraq’s northern Kurdish
region.

In addition, C-17 cargo planes fly military supplies to U.S. soldiers
in remote areas of Iraq from Incirlik, avoiding the use of Iraqi
roads vulnerable to bomb attacks. U.S. officials say the arrangement
helps reduce U.S. casualties.

U.S.-Turkish ties already had been strained by Turkey’s complaint
that the United States hasn’t done enough to stop Turkish Kurd rebels
from using bases in northern Iraq to stage attacks in southeastern
Turkey.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Turkey denies the
deaths constituted genocide, saying the killings didn’t come from a
coordinated campaign but rather during unrest accompanying the
Ottoman Empire’s collapse.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the resolution despite
lobbying by Turkish officials and the opposition from President Bush.

The vote was a triumph for Armenian-American interest groups that
have lobbied Congress to pass a resolution.

The administration will now try to pressure Democratic leaders in
Congress not to schedule a vote, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
indicated they were committed to going forward.

`Why do it now? Because there’s never a good time and all of us in
the Democratic leadership have supported’ it, she said.

Turkish officials said the House had no business to get involved in
writing history.