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  • Genocide vote may destabilise region

    The Australian
    March 19, 2010 Friday
    1 - All-round Country Edition

    Genocide vote may destabilise region

    BY Catherine Philp


    BEWARE the law of unintended consequences. The US congressional
    panel's resolution on Armenian genocide may right a historical wrong
    but, in doing so, it may also jeopardise a peaceful future in the
    Middle East.

    Furious with Israel's clumsy anti-diplomacy and humiliated by its
    failure to make the EU grade, Turkey is running out of reasons to play
    ball with the West.

    The congressional vote and a similar one by the Swedish parliament
    have helped to drive another wedge between Turkey and its Western
    allies and are tilting it dangerously towards Iran.

    Only now that ambassadors are being recalled and threats are being
    made to expel the Armenian population are many taking notice of the
    scale of Turkey's southeastward tilt.

    In London on Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
    publicly dismissed suspicions of an Iranian nuclear weapons program as
    fiction.

    That caught the headlines, but just as worrying and much quieter was
    the weekend phone call between Turkish President Abdullah Gul and his
    Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during which Mr Gul called
    for deepening bilateral relations and pledged his support to the
    regime.

    Mr Gul told Mr Ahmadinejad that the ``two countries would defend each
    other's positions at international forums and emphasised the
    importance of tightening the relations between them and of consulting
    on regional and security matters'', Iran's Fars News Agency reported.

    This certainly affects the UN Security Council, of which Turkey is a
    non-permanent member. It cannot veto a resolution on sanctions against
    Iran, on which the US is working to build consensus. But it can side
    with Iran and give cover to China, the one country most likely to
    veto.

    The Obama administration warned Turkey yesterday that it would pay the
    price if it went against the majority over Iran. It is doubtful,
    however, whether Turkey's ears are turned in the right direction to
    listen.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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