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Turkish fury as US lawmakers pass Armenia 'genocide' bill

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  • Turkish fury as US lawmakers pass Armenia 'genocide' bill

    Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
    March 5 2010

    Turkish fury as US lawmakers pass Armenia 'genocide' bill

    EMMANUEL PARISSE
    March 5, 2010 - 9:19PM

    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.
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