Tweet
Deutsche Welle, Germany
March 5 2010
Turkey warns of broken US ties after Armenian 'genocide' decision
GroÃ?ansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Turkish-Armenian
relations have never fully recovered since the killingsTurkey has
responded sharply to US lawmakers' decision to brand the killing of
Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I a 'genocide.' Ankara
immediately recalled its US ambassador.
Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, warned of a breakdown in
ties with the US after a congressional committee approved a resolution
that said the World War I killing of Armenians was genocide.
Davutoglu said the Obama administration hadn't done enough to support
efforts to block the Thursday vote, and minutes after the results were
known, Turkey angrily and immediately withdrew its ambassador to the
US, Namik Tan.
Davutoglu - who had sent Turkish lawmakers to Washington to lobby US
congressmen on the matter - called the issue a matter of "honor."
On Thursday, the US Congress' Foreign Affairs committee passed the
symbolic resolution to name the killing of Armenians in World War I by
Ottoman forces "genocide." The vote passed by a slim margin - the
result was 23 to 22 - despite strong opposition from Turkey and the
White House.
Now the stage is set for a full vote in the House of Representatives.
"We condemn this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of a
crime it has not committed," the Turkish government said in a
statement.
President Abdullah Gul added his protestations, 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 warned.
But Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian welcomed the vote and
called it a boost for human rights.
Bildunterschrift: Armenians believe the massacre was a deliberate
campaign of genocide
Pressure on Obama
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 claims that only 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 non-binding resolution from the Foreign Affairs Committee 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.
The US has traditionally condemned the killings, which occurred
between 1915 and 1918, but refrained from calling them genocide, since
it was 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.
Bildunterschrift: GroÃ?ansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Obama sees Turkey as an important ally
But the US Congress took a more combative view. In his opening remarks
Thursday, Howard 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.
Peace deal in jeopardy
Turkey and Armenia signed accords last year to normalize ties after a
century of bitter hostility rooted in the 1915 mass killing and
deportation of Armenians. The accords have yet to go through either
parliament.
In his telephone call with Gul, Obama urged quick ratification of the
accords, the White House said. "The Turkish people and all of us here
are extremely upset," a Turkish member of parliament, Suat
Kiniklioglu, told reporters in Washington after the vote, which took
over two hours.
"You will see in the coming days and week that the Turkish parliament
and the Turkish government will take all necessary actions to make our
displeasure known in no uncertain terms. No one can equate our
grandfathers with Nazis."
bk/jen/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Rob Turner
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,53222 48,00.html
March 5 2010
Turkey warns of broken US ties after Armenian 'genocide' decision
GroÃ?ansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Turkish-Armenian
relations have never fully recovered since the killingsTurkey has
responded sharply to US lawmakers' decision to brand the killing of
Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I a 'genocide.' Ankara
immediately recalled its US ambassador.
Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, warned of a breakdown in
ties with the US after a congressional committee approved a resolution
that said the World War I killing of Armenians was genocide.
Davutoglu said the Obama administration hadn't done enough to support
efforts to block the Thursday vote, and minutes after the results were
known, Turkey angrily and immediately withdrew its ambassador to the
US, Namik Tan.
Davutoglu - who had sent Turkish lawmakers to Washington to lobby US
congressmen on the matter - called the issue a matter of "honor."
On Thursday, the US Congress' Foreign Affairs committee passed the
symbolic resolution to name the killing of Armenians in World War I by
Ottoman forces "genocide." The vote passed by a slim margin - the
result was 23 to 22 - despite strong opposition from Turkey and the
White House.
Now the stage is set for a full vote in the House of Representatives.
"We condemn this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of a
crime it has not committed," the Turkish government said in a
statement.
President Abdullah Gul added his protestations, 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 warned.
But Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian welcomed the vote and
called it a boost for human rights.
Bildunterschrift: Armenians believe the massacre was a deliberate
campaign of genocide
Pressure on Obama
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 claims that only 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 non-binding resolution from the Foreign Affairs Committee 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.
The US has traditionally condemned the killings, which occurred
between 1915 and 1918, but refrained from calling them genocide, since
it was 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.
Bildunterschrift: GroÃ?ansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Obama sees Turkey as an important ally
But the US Congress took a more combative view. In his opening remarks
Thursday, Howard 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.
Peace deal in jeopardy
Turkey and Armenia signed accords last year to normalize ties after a
century of bitter hostility rooted in the 1915 mass killing and
deportation of Armenians. The accords have yet to go through either
parliament.
In his telephone call with Gul, Obama urged quick ratification of the
accords, the White House said. "The Turkish people and all of us here
are extremely upset," a Turkish member of parliament, Suat
Kiniklioglu, told reporters in Washington after the vote, which took
over two hours.
"You will see in the coming days and week that the Turkish parliament
and the Turkish government will take all necessary actions to make our
displeasure known in no uncertain terms. No one can equate our
grandfathers with Nazis."
bk/jen/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Rob Turner
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,53222 48,00.html