Author: Varosian Antranik

Genocide
06.03.2010
Ahmet Altan

You can find the Turkish version at:

Eve ryone is in front of their tv, watching in excitement as if it’s a
national football game. What is going on? A commission of the US
Congress is voting on the `Armenian Genocide’ resolution. We lose the
`game’ 23-22 as a result of various lobbying activities.

And all hell breaks loose.

Comments, discussions, spewing fury at the US , questions of `will the
Incirlik base be closed down?’ directed at the minister of foreign
affairs. Amongst all this hoolabaloo, my favorite comment comes from a
speaker who denounces this decision: ` Turkey is no longer a country
that can easily be humiliated.’

When a commission of the US Congress votes for `genocide’, we are
`humiliated’. Do you know what humiliation is?

Humiliation is millions of people holding their breaths for the
outcome of a few votes in somebody else’s parliament. That is
humiliation.

Humiliation is to find the result of that commission’s vote of vital
importance, to feel defeated because of the vote of one
man. Humiliation is the conviction that the whole of one’s national
identity depends on the decision of one commission=3B humiliation is
to have to wait the outcome of a vote in some other country’s
parliament, biting one’s fingernails.

Turkey is not humiliated because that commission approved that
resolution with a difference of one vote. Turkey is humiliated because
it itself cannot shed light on its own history, has to delegate this
matter into other hands, is frightened like hell from its own past,
has to squirm like mad in order to cover up truths.

The real issue is this:

Why is the `Armenian Genocide’ a matter of discussion in American,
French and Swiss parliaments and not in the parliament of the Turkish
Republic ? Why can we, ourselves, not discuss a matter that we deem so
vital that we perceive the difference of one vote as a source of
humiliation?

If you cannot discuss your own problems, you deserve to be
humiliated. If you keep silent in a matter that you find so important,
you deserve to be humiliated. If you try to shut others up, you are
humiliated even more. The whole world interprets the killing of so
manyArmenians, -a number we cannot even estimate properly- as
`genocide’.

Genocide is a legal term. The massacre carried out by the Unionist
largely conforms to the description of that legal term. For Turks and
Armenians, the word `genocide’ has become an obession. The Turks
insist that `it never was genocide’ and the Armenians call anyone who
says it was not genocide `liars’.

Both sides spend millions of dollars to convince the world that their
viewpoint is the valid viewpoint. It is almost as if their mutual
efforts have created a `genocide sector’. Why then, can we not speak
about this incident in detail?

How many hundreds of thousands of Armenians did the Unionists kill?
Why? We claim `Armenians attacked us, that’s why we killed
them’. Fine, but the `attacking’ Armenian gangs were on the Eastern
border, what crime did hundreds of thousands of Armenians living
elsewhere in Anatolia commit, other than being Armenian?

Can someone be punished purely because of his ethnic origin?

What do you call punishing someone not because they `committed a
crime’ but because they `belong to the same ethnic group as someone
who you say committed a crime’?

This is murder. And to tell the truth, hundreds of thousands of
murders targeting the same ethnic group does fall into the category of
`genocide’. Unionists committed heinous murders=3B the cruelty they
subjected Armenians to is beyond imagination. Why are we trying to
cover up this horrible crime, why are we trying to defend the
murderers, to disguise their crimes, why are we squirming to keep
truth buried, even at the risk of being humiliated?

The history of every society is tainted with crime and blood. We
cannot undo what has been done but we can show the courage to face the
truths, to discuss the reality. We can give up trying to silence the
world out of concern for incriminating the founders of the republic.

We can ask questions.

And the first question would be `how come we never read about an
incident that involves the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people
in our history lessons?’ Even this reality makes the situation
`suspicious’. If you are not brave enough to face a truth that
happened ninety-five years ago, you deserve to be humiliated. If you
struggle to hide an incident that happened a century ago and base how
seventy million people relate to the world at large on a `lie’, you
deserve to be humiliated.

No one dares humiliate brave people who are not afraid of the
truth. If you feel humiliated, you should take a hard look at yourself
and what you hide.

AMERICAN ANALYST: THE REAL OBSTACLE TO RATIFICATION OF THE PROTOCOLS BY THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT IS THE LACK OF PROGRESS ON SETTLING THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH ISSUE

APA
March 9 2010
Azerbaijan

Washington. Isabel Levine – APA. "The decision of the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives on "Armenian genocide"
doesn’t mean the end of ratification of the Turkish-Armenian protocols
and the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations, Stephen Larrabee,
senior analyst and Distinguished Chair in European Security at the
Washington DC based think tank RAND Organization told APA’s Washington
correspondent.

"The real obstacle to ratification of the protocols by the Turkish
parliament is the lack of progress on settling the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue. Without some visible progress toward resolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the Turkish parliament is unlikely to ratify
the protocols" – Mr. Larrabee said.

According to the analyst, Congress’s Committee vote will annoy
many Turks but will not seriously harm US-Turkish relations as
long as the resolution is not put to a vote before the full House
of Representatives.

"It is the vote before the full House that is most important not the
committee vote. As noted above, the administration now seems to have
an agreement that the resolution will not be put to a floor vote in
the House. According to news reports, the Obama administration has
achieved an agreement with the House leadership that the resolution
will not be put to a floor vote. If the reports are true, this should
defuse the potential crisis" – he added.

Another analyst, Mark Meirowitz, who holds a doctorate in Politics
and teaches undergraduate courses in Politics, History and Law at
various colleges in New York, believes that, the US House Committee
resolution was "unnecessary".

"I do not believe that it is the appropriate function of the House
Committee on Foreign Affairs to become the tribunal or platform
to evaluate historical events. In my opinion, the Armenian Genocide
Resolution will harm US-Turkish relations, serves no useful purpose and
should not be approved" – analyst told APA’s Washington correspondent.

According to him, the impact of the passage of the House Committee
resolution is harmful mostly in a symbolic way.

"The Turkish government needs to remain calm about this, and devote
its energies to working out a rapprochement with Armenia; including
getting the scholars commission established to study the events in
Armenia. So long as the full House does not take up the resolution,
the damage will be limited. I do note that even if the House passed
it, which would be a terrible development, such a resolution would
not be binding", – said Mr. Meirowitz, who is also a business lawyer
in New York.

OSCE PA DELEGATION IN YEREVAN TO COMMEMORATE VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.03.2010 21:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the evening on March 10 the delegation headed
by the Chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Joao Soares will
arrive in Armenia. Joao Soares is scheduled to meet with Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan, Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly
Hovik Abrahamyan, chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic
of Artsakh Ashot Ghulyan, the Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian. The delegation will also be received by the Catholicos
of All Armenians Garekin II.

The delegation will lay a wreath to the Armenian Genocide Memorial.

On March 11 the delegation, headed by OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Chairman will take part in the NATO Rose Roth seminar "Regional
cooperation in the South Caucasus. Challenges, Opportunities,
Perspectives".

The OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the
world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its
mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom
of press and fair elections. Most of its 3,500-plus staff are engaged
in field operations, with only around 10% in its headquarters. The
OSCE is an ad hoc organization under the UN Charter and is concerned
with early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and
post-conflict rehabilitation. Its 56 participating states are in
Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and North America and cover most
of the northern hemisphere. It was created during the Cold War era
as an East-West forum. Armenia became OSCE member on January 30,
1992. Since January 2010 the OSCE chairmanship was passed from Greece
to Kazakhstan.

CNN International
March 6 2010

Official: Armenian genocide resolution unlikely to get full House vote

March 6, 2010 — Updated 2207 GMT (0607 HKT)

Washington (CNN) — A narrowly passed committee measure that
recommends the United States recognize the 1915 killings of ethnic
Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as genocide will likely not get a full
vote in the House of Representatives, according to a senior State
Department official.

The official said Friday that the State Department has an
understanding with House leadership on the issue, and, "We believe it
will stop where it is."

The measure passed 23-22 in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.

In response, Turkey ordered its ambassador to the United States home
for "consultation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin told
CNN.

The nearly century-old issue has placed both Congress and the White
House in the middle of a political minefield, balancing moral
considerations with both domestic and international concerns.

The Obama administration had urged the House Foreign Affairs Committee
not to pass the resolution, warning it could damage U.S.-Turkish
relations and jeopardize efforts to normalize relations between Turkey
and its neighbor Armenia. The two do not share formal diplomatic
relations.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters Friday that "the
Obama administration strongly opposes the resolution that was passed
by only one vote in the House committee, and we’ll work very hard to
make sure it does not go to the House floor."

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters ahead of the
vote that the United States was concerned about the impact the vote
could potentially have on U.S.-Turkish relations. Turkey, among other
things, is considered a strong American ally and is home to a critical
U.S. air base.

Armenia’s foreign minister, Edward Nalbandian, said his country highly
appreciates the committee’s vote. "This is another proof of the
devotion of the American people to universal human values and is an
important step toward the prevention of the crimes against humanity,"
he said. The Armenian National Committee of America said the passage
of the measure shows that "Turkey doesn’t get a vote or a veto in the
U.S. Congress."

Turkish officials vehemently oppose the measure.

"Turkey is saddened by the bill that has been accepted in the Foreign
Affairs Committee today [Thursday]," Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan’s Web site said.

"We condemn this bill that accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it
has not committed. The people who support this bill have adopted a
wrong and unfair attitude, ignoring the differences of opinion of
expert historians and historical facts. The bill has been prepared
with tangible historical mistakes regarding the 1915 incidents and
with a completely subjective attitude," the statement said.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman recently issued a public warning
that passage of a resolution labeling the World War I killings as
genocide "would harm U.S.-Turkish relations." Turkish officials have
also warned that passing the resolution could hurt a historic
agreement aimed at normalizing relations between Turkey and Armenia,
and efforts to reopen their long-closed border.

"It would harm the normalization process," spokesman Ozugergin said.
"And it is wrong. The substance is also wrong."

Turkey officially denies a genocide took place in the last days of the
crumbling Ottoman Empire. Ankara instead says that Muslim Turks and
Christian Armenians massacred each other on the killing fields of
World War I.

Historians have extensively documented the Ottoman military’s forced
death-march of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians into the
Syrian desert in 1915. Every April 24, Armenians worldwide observe a
remembrance day for those killed.

The killings decimated the Armenian population in what is modern-day
eastern Turkey.

The government in the Armenian capital of Yerevan and influential
Armenian diaspora groups have been urging countries around the world
to formally label the events of 1915 "genocide."

"I don’t pretend to be a professional historian," Foreign Affairs
Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-California, said ahead of
Thursday’s vote. "But the vast majority of experts … agree that the
tragic massacres of the Armenians constitute genocide."

Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, acknowledged that Turkey is an
"important, strong [and] necessary ally of the United States." But
"overriding all of that," he said, "is the issue of justice and the
issue of history. … History has to be righted."

Opponents of the resolution had expressed sympathy toward the victims
of the 1915 killings, but said current political concerns took
priority.

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, praised the committee’s "sincere effort"
to illuminate "a dark chapter in history," but said the committee
should not pass the measure.

"I do not minimize the horror that took place," he said. But "now is
not the time for this committee of the American Congress to take up
the measure that is now before us."

Turkey is a strategic partner of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

Furthermore, the logistical support provided by the U.S. base in
Incirlik, Turkey, is a "staple" of American power in the Middle East,
he asserted. "In a time of war," the United States should not "take
the relationship [with Turkey] for granted."

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Virginia, argued that Congress should not do
anything to undermine the Turkish government, which is a "secular
alternative model for the Muslim world."

"I hate this vote," he said. "The United States has a great deal at
stake in the Turkish relationship." Congress shouldn’t "pontificate on
this issue" and then pretend "there will be no consequences," he
warned.

Last year, the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia signed a series
of protocols aimed at establishing embassies in Ankara and Yerevan.
The U.S.-, European- and Russian-backed agreement also called for the
creation of an international committee of historians to examine
archives and "restore mutual confidence between the two nations."

In October 2009, Armenia’s president traveled to Turkey to attend a
historic soccer match between the two countries’ national teams.
Despite this round of "football diplomacy," the diplomatic overture
between the two capitals has slowed in recent months.

A previous resolution recognizing the Armenian "genocide" was approved
by the House Foreign Affairs Committee In 2007. The Turkish government
protested by temporarily recalling its ambassador from Washington.

The resolution did not make it to the House floor.

/us.turkey.genocide.debate/

news.am, Armenia
March 6 2010

How many congressmen voted for Genocide Resolution can locate Armenia
on map: Erdogan

15:34 / 03/06/2010Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President
Abdullah Gul discredited U.S. congressmen’s knowledge of geography.

Speaking at the third conference of Turkish Businessmen and
Manufacturers Confederation, Erdogan said: `What U.S. congressmen
voted for the Armenian Genocide resolution can locate Armenia on
global map? At the World War I each family residing on that territory
suffered losses. Certainly we did not and will not forget that
bereavement, but cannot plan for the future based on that. Great
powers should draw lessons from the past meanwhile looking to the
future. Tell me, who benefited from voting for Armenian Genocide in
the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs ` U.S. or Armenia?’

Thereupon, Erdogan compared discussions in the Committee with comedy
or knockabout, pillorying voting in the Congress. Then he turned nasty
to U.S. recalling Turkey is a large country and those not realizing
this will feel it shortly. `I am clear, the decision by Committee on
Foreign Affairs will not hurt Turkey, it’s not us who will lose, but
those shortsighted,’ he concluded.

S.T.

States News Service
March 4, 2010 Thursday

ROHRABACHER’S STATEMENT ON H. RES. 252, AFFIRMATION OF UNITED STATES
RECORD ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

WASHINGTON

The following information was released by the office of California
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher:

Let me note that I personally would have preferred that this
resolution not be brought up. It is about events that took place
almost 100 years ago, it is about a crime committed by a government of
a country, the Ottoman Empire, that hasn’t existed for nearly 100
years. It is about a crime in which the perpetrators and the victims
are all dead, with a few rare exceptions, 3 are here with us today.

Furthermore, it is an issue that has little or nothing to do with the
United States. With that said this legislation is before us. I have
looked into the history that this legislation comments on. There was
an Armenian uprising in an attempt to gain independence from Ottoman
rule. In that uprising there was wide spread killing of civilians,
both Turks and Armenians. The Ottoman troops suppressed the uprising,
had it ended there, this resolution would not be before us today.

The Ottoman government after putting down the uprising decided to put
an end to what they saw as "the Armenian Problem."

The slaughter that followed, the slaughter of defeated and unarmed
people, mostly non combatants, was a crime, not just against Armenian
but against humanity. So because I am now confronted with voting for a
resolution that is basically truthful, I cannot vote against truth.

I would add this though, this resolution is being supported based on
the belief this will at long last close the book on an issue that
should have been resolved long ago.

My vote and the vote of my colleagues is not intended to create more
conflict, but instead to resolve it. Specifically this is a vote to
set the record straight to get the issue resolved and behind us. This
is not an endorsement of reparations, demanded for which will not
bring healing but open the door to new and widening conflict. This is
not about reparations which will not right a wrong of 100 years ago,
but instead will create more conflicts today. Let us resolve an issue
not open up new conflict.

With that said I will vote for this resolution because it is truthful.
Turkey is a friend and has been a good ally, a nation of Muslims who
represent a democratic and moderate force in the Islamic world. But
because they are important and a friend does not mean we should
refrain from acknowledging the truth, of a long ago crime, because it
will upset a current friend. Germany was important to us in the cold
war. I would certainly have rejected any suggestions that I should
vote against a resolution, acknowledging the holocaust to spare
Germany’s feelings. Today we reconfirm our commitment to truth, we
also reconfirm that our friendship with Turkey is strong enough to
withstand an acknowledgment of history as it is.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 5 2010

ErdoÄ?an says US-Turkey ties at risk, recalls envoy

NATO member Turkey recalled its ambassador to the United States for
consultations after a vote in a US congressional committee on Thursday
branded the World War I incidents as genocide.

In a statement, Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip ErdoÄ?an also said he
was seriously concerned that the non-binding resolution would harm
Turkish-US ties and efforts by Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia to
bury a century of hostility.

Washington regards Turkey, a Muslim but secular democracy which
aspires to join the European Union, as an ally whose help it needs to
solve conflicts from Iran to Afghanistan to the Middle East.

WHAT WILL TURKEY DO NEXT?

* In 2007, Ankara recalled its ambassador after a US panel approved a
similar bill. Turkey reacted angrily, suggesting trade, defence and
other ties might be affected. Then-president George W. Bush warned
against passage, and the measure never came to a vote on the House
floor. The ambassador returned to his post after one week.

* Ankara had launched a diplomatic offensive to block the bill.
Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu told reporters in Ankara hours before
the vote: "We are at a stage when US-Turkish ties need maximum
cooperation. Everybody should consider the importance of US-Turkish
relations for regional and global stability."

WILL IT AFFECT AFGHANISTAN, THE MIDDLE EAST OR IRAN?

* ErdoÄ?an said the bill might harm Turkey-US ties, but did not give
any details. President Abdullah Gül said Turkey should not be held
responsible for any negative consequences, but did not elaborate.

* Commentators had said the bill could affect Washington’s use of the
Incirlik Air base in southeast Turkey. Incirlik is vital in logistical
support for US troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey is a
transit route for US troops going to and from Iraq, and has 1,700
non-combat troops in Afghanistan.

* Ankara has played a key role in Obama’s strategy to get Afghanistan
and Pakistan to work together in fighting al Qaeda and Taliban
militants in their borders. Turkey has hosted high-level talks between
Pakistan and Afghanistan.

* Turkey, which has boosted ties with its Muslim neighbours, is a
major player in US-backed Arab-Israeli peacemaking and has mediated in
indirect talks between Syria and the Israelis.

* Ankara has offered to use its close ties with Iran to help solve a
dispute between global powers and Tehran over its nuclear programme.
The United States, France and other Western powers are preparing a
plan for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its
nuclear programme. The bill could further alienate Turkey, which sits
on the 15-member Security Council and has indicated it will not
support more sanctions.

ARMENIA

* ErdoÄ?an said the bill would derail efforts to normalise ties with
long-time foe Armenia. Ankara and Yerevan late last year signed an
historic deal to reopen their border. The chairman of the Turkish
parliament’s foreign affairs committee had said the resolution could
jeopardise Turkish parliamentary approval of the protocols.

* Muslim Turkey accepts that there were killings but in both sides and
says that those killings stemmed from civil war during the atmosphere
of the catastrophic World War I era.

TRADE AND MILITARY CONTRACTS

* Turkish media have suggested the bill may hurt bilateral trade and
deny US firms lucrative defence contracts. Vatan newspaper said on
Thursday that Ankara had threatened to cancel defence contracts
totalling $45 billion. US-Turkish trade volume was $16.2 billion in
2008.

* The chief executives of Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co, Raytheon
Co, United Technologies Corp and Northrop Grumman Corp this week
issued a rare joint letter, warning passage of the bill could lead to
"a rupture in US-Turkey relations" and put American jobs at risk.

ANTI-AMERICANISM

* The issue of the Armenian massacres is deeply sensitive in Turkey
and Turks, including Nobel Literature Laureate Orhan Pamuk, have been
prosecuted in the European Union candidate country for referring to
the killings as genocide. Most Turks view such bills as an insults to
their national honour. There has been a wave of anti-Americanism in
Turkey, particularly following the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and many
tensions linger. The bill could fan more anti-Americanism.

05 March 2010, Friday
REUTERS WITH TODAY’S ZAMAN ANKARA

Azerbaijan Business Center
March 5 2010

Milli Majlis claims protest to US Congress for plans to recognize
Ottoman Empire’s genocide of Armenians in 1915-18

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Today Milli Majlis (Azerbaijani parliament) has
passed a statement in connection with the decision of the US House of
Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs to raise the issue of
general voting for recognition of genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire in 1915-1918.

Samed Seyidov, the chairperson of the Milli Majlis Committee for
International & Inter-Parliamentary Relations, said that in accordance
with the statement the US House of Representatives’ decision on
recognition of so-called genocide of Armenians could cause damage to
attempts to restore peace and stability in the region.

`It can bring to nought all the attempts made earlier on settlement of
Nagorno Garabagh conflict,’ Seyidov cited the statement text.

Milli Majlis hopes that the US Congress will refuse from discussion of
this matter as western experts and researchers proved that there was
no genocide.

We Were Against the Genocide Resolution: US Ambassador to Turkey

17:25 – 05.03.10

US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey, invited to a press conference
in Ankara today by Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the
US administration, including himself, Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and President Barack Obama, was opposed to House Resolution
252 on the Armenian Genocide.

Turkish broadcaster NTV, quoting anonymous diplomatic sources, said
that Turkey’s foreign ministry had asked Jeffrey to pass on the
following three messages to the US administration: the essence of the
resolution is inaccurate, and it will negatively affect
Turkish-American relations, as well as the process of normalizing
Armenia-Turkey relations.

Tert.am

WHITE HOUSE URGES CONGRESS NOT TO PASS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

Voice of America
March 4 2010

A boy pauses in front of a wall-sized poster depicting the faces of 90
survivors of the mass killings of Armenians during WW I, in Yerevan,
Armenia (file)

The White House says a Congressional resolution declaring the World
War I -era killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide could
hurt relations between Armenia and Turkey.

A White House spokesman said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
called the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign
Affairs Committee, Howard Berman Wednesday and indicated that further
Congressional action could impede progress on normalization of
relations between Turkey and Armenia.

The committee began debating the non-binding resolution Thursday
ahead of a scheduled vote. If approved, the measure would then go to
the full House for consideration.

Turkey has warned that its relations with the United States will be
damaged if the House of Representatives passes the measure.

The White House says President Barack Obama spoke Wednesday with
Turkish President Abdullah Gul and expressed appreciation for
Turkish efforts to normalize relations with Armenia. Mr. Obama urged
ratification of protocols signed between the countries last year.

Armenians say the massacres of some 1.5 million people between 1915
and 1923 were the result of an orchestrated campaign by the Ottoman
Turks. Turkey strongly rejects the label of genocide, saying far
fewer Armenians died and that they were killed in a civil war in
which Turks also died.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Cairo
Wednesday that if the House resolution is adopted at the committee
level, the Obama administration should take steps to ensure it is
not voted on by Congress.

He said U.S. recognition of the killings as genocide would not only
harm U.S.-Turkey relations, but ties between Turkey and Armenia. He
said relations with Armenia are going through their best phase,
with strong cooperation and a desire to end decades of enmity.

Turkey is a key ally of the United States and serves as a major supply
route for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Turkish and Armenian leaders signed protocols last year that would
establish bilateral relations and open their shared border, but they
have not been approved by either nation’s parliament.