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Genocide Resolution Could Go Forward Despite Opposition From Obama A

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  • Genocide Resolution Could Go Forward Despite Opposition From Obama A

    GENOCIDE RESOLUTION COULD GO FORWARD DESPITE OPPOSITION FROM OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

    PanARMENIAN.Net
    17.03.2010 20:55 GMT+04:00

    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ A US congressional resolution that would recognize
    killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as Genocide could go forward
    despite opposition from the Obama administration.

    Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon told reporters there is
    no deal with Democratic congressional leaders to block the resolution.

    That contradicts earlier claims by the State Department.

    Turkey strongly opposes the resolution. It withdrew its ambassador
    to Washington earlier this month after a congressional committee
    approved the measure.

    Gordon acknowledged the congressional committee vote had set back
    relations at a time when the United States is seeking help from
    Turkey to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions. But he said the United
    States has not seen a deterioration in cooperation with Turkey on a
    wide range of foreign policy matters.

    The Obama administration has urged lawmakers to keep the measure from
    a vote in the full U.S. House. It is not clear whether supporters of
    the resolution have enough support to bring it to the House floor.

    Gordon said the resolution is an obstacle for reconciliation talks
    between Turkey and Armenia. The two countries reached a deal last
    year to normalize relations and open their border, but it has not
    yet been ratified by their governments. But Gordon denied the process
    had stalled.

    "I really think that those two countries' leaderships are committed to
    doing this," he told reporters. He said that the Obama administration
    thinks the historical issues are best addressed by the two countries
    as part of reconciliation talks. Historians estimate that up to
    1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks, an event widely
    viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey,
    however, denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has
    been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and
    unrest. In a speech, Gordon urged Turkey to step up pressure on Iran,
    a neighbor and important trading partner. He criticized Turkey for
    not voting on a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency
    demanding that Iran suspend construction of a once-secret nuclear
    facility. "With respect to Iran, while the international community has
    sought to present a single, coordinated message to Iran's government,
    Turkey has at times sounded a different note," Gordon said, according
    to prepared text of the speech, Associated Press reported.
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