Tweet
Administration, Congress at Odds Over Armenian Genocide Bill
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
October 08, 2007
(CNSNews.com) - Despite efforts by the Bush administration to kill it,
a bill before a congressional committee this week is threatening to
unsettle U.S. ties with an important ally. The ripple effect may
impact Iraq and Israel.
The legislation calls on the administration to refer to the killing of
hundreds of thousands of Armenians during the closing years of the
Ottoman Empire as "genocide." It is the latest in a decades-long
effort to change official U.S. policy.
Support for and opposition to the non-binding resolution, which goes
before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, crosses party
lines. Sponsors include Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. George
Radanovich (R-Calif.), and the more than 220 co-sponsors include
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
(D-Md.).
A related bill in the Senate was sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin
(D-Ill.) and has 32 co-sponsors, including Democratic presidential
frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) and Republican presidential
candidate Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.).
The White House opposes the move -- as did the Clinton White House,
which intervened in Oct. 2000 to prevent a similar House initiative.
Former national security advisor Brent Scowcroft, a Republican who
chairs the American-Turkish Council, has cautioned against the bill,
and eight former secretaries of state, Republican and Democrat, have
urged Pelosi to block it.
The government of Armenia, a predominantly orthodox Christian former
Soviet republic, has made the issue a top priority. Islamic Turkey is
strongly opposed, and in recent weeks its government has warned the
U.S. in no uncertain terms about the implications of passing such a
resolution.
A member of NATO and aspiring future member of the European Union,
Turkey is strategically located between Southeast Europe and Asia, and
borders Syria, Iraq and Iran. It has strong ties with Israel.
Despite the Turkish parliament's refusal in March 2003 to allow U.S.
forces to use Turkish territory to invade Iraq, Turkey by nature of
its location, regional clout and a long-running war against Kurdish
separatists is considered a key player in future events there. The
U.S. airbase at Incirlik is also critical for ongoing U.S. operations
in Iraq.
Now, however, Turkish lawmakers are threatening to force an end to the
U.S. right to use the base if the Armenian genocide bill in passed.
Other possible responses being mulled include a withdrawal of support
for International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in
Afghanistan.
A multi-party delegation of Turkish lawmakers will visit Washington
this week to discuss the matter with U.S. members of Congress, and
Turkish media quoted parliamentary speaker Koksal Toptan as telling
Pelosi in a letter that "it might take decades to heal negative
effects of the bill if it passes."
'National security interests'
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call Friday told
President Bush that although the resolution is non-binding, it would
harm bilateral relations. It would also harm Turkish-Armenian
reconciliation efforts, he added.
(Relations between the two neighbors are not affected only by their
history; Turkey cut diplomatic ties with Armenia over its 1993
occupation of Nagorno-Karabagh, an enclave inside Azerbaijan, a fellow
Muslim ally of Turkey.)
After the conversation, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said,
"the president has described the events of 1915 as 'one of the
greatest tragedies of the 20th century,' but believes that the
determination of whether or not the events constitute a genocide
should be a matter for historical inquiry, not legislation."
Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian
Affairs, noted during a briefing Friday that former Secretaries of
State Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Warren Christopher, Lawrence
Eagleburger, James Baker, George Shultz, Alexander Haig and Henry
Kissinger had warned in a joint letter that the resolution could
"endanger our national security interests in the region, including the
safety of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Supporters of the bill dismiss the argument about angering Turkey.
"There is no question that Turkey is bitterly opposed to recognition
and is threatening our military and commercial relationship, including
access to the Incirlik air base, but Turkey has made similar threats
to other nations in the past only to retreat from them," resolution
sponsor Schiff said in a House speech last April.
He noted that the European Union's stance on the issue had not
prevented Ankara from seeking E.U. membership.
'Jews could be targeted'
Turkish officials said Erdogan also has appealed to Israel's
ceremonial President Shimon Peres to use his influence with
Washington. Last week, Turkish foreign minister Ali Babacan told the
Today's Zaman newspaper that the resolution, if passed, could stoke
anger among Turks directed at Jews, as many Turks had a perception
that Jews and Armenians were cooperating in the campaign.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish organization that counters
anti-Semitism, last August announced that it had reviewed its position
and now regarded the historical events - which it had previously
described as "massacres and atrocities" - as "genocide."
At the same time, however, the ADL said it opposed the resolution.
National director Abraham Foxman said it would not help Turk-Armenian
reconciliation, could put the Turkish Jewish community at risk, and
could jeopardize the important multilateral relationship between the
U.S., Turkey and Israel.
Divisions over the resolution also were evident in a recent decision
by Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat and foreign policy hawk, to
withdraw her support for the bill.
In a letter to the House foreign affairs committee, Harman said while
she viewed the events of 1915 as a "terrible crime ... against the
Armenian people," she would vote against the resolution.
Harman, a former ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee
who currently chairs the homeland security committee's intelligence
subcommittee, said she believed that Turkey "plays a critically
important role in moderating extremist forces" in the Middle East.
"Given the nature of the threat, I believe it is imperative to nurture
that role -- however valid from the historical perspective, we should
avoid taking steps that would embarrass or isolate the Turkish
leadership."
Atrocities
According to the Armenian Research Center at the University of
Michigan in Dearborn, more than half of the 2.5 million Armenians in
the Ottoman Empire were killed in 1915-1916 and again around 1923.
On April 24, 1915 more than 5,000 Armenians were massacred in
Constantinople, today's Istanbul. In other cases, people were first
deported, then killed. Some starved to death in prison camps, and
others were loaded onto barges, which were sunk in the Black Sea, it
says.
Turkey says between 250,000 and 500,000 Armenians, and a larger number
of Muslims, died amid chaos accompanying the collapse of the 600-year
Ottoman Empire and World War I.
"Documents of the time list intercommunal violence, forced migration
of all ethnic groups, disease, and starvation as causes of death.
Others died as a result of the same war-induced causes that ravaged
all peoples during the period," the Turkish government says in a
document responding to the allegations.
Armenia is slightly larger than Maryland, and home to some 2.9 million
people. Some seven million Armenians live abroad, including one
million in the U.S.
Source: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page =/ForeignBureaus/archive/200710/INT20071008b.html
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
October 08, 2007
(CNSNews.com) - Despite efforts by the Bush administration to kill it,
a bill before a congressional committee this week is threatening to
unsettle U.S. ties with an important ally. The ripple effect may
impact Iraq and Israel.
The legislation calls on the administration to refer to the killing of
hundreds of thousands of Armenians during the closing years of the
Ottoman Empire as "genocide." It is the latest in a decades-long
effort to change official U.S. policy.
Support for and opposition to the non-binding resolution, which goes
before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, crosses party
lines. Sponsors include Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. George
Radanovich (R-Calif.), and the more than 220 co-sponsors include
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
(D-Md.).
A related bill in the Senate was sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin
(D-Ill.) and has 32 co-sponsors, including Democratic presidential
frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) and Republican presidential
candidate Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.).
The White House opposes the move -- as did the Clinton White House,
which intervened in Oct. 2000 to prevent a similar House initiative.
Former national security advisor Brent Scowcroft, a Republican who
chairs the American-Turkish Council, has cautioned against the bill,
and eight former secretaries of state, Republican and Democrat, have
urged Pelosi to block it.
The government of Armenia, a predominantly orthodox Christian former
Soviet republic, has made the issue a top priority. Islamic Turkey is
strongly opposed, and in recent weeks its government has warned the
U.S. in no uncertain terms about the implications of passing such a
resolution.
A member of NATO and aspiring future member of the European Union,
Turkey is strategically located between Southeast Europe and Asia, and
borders Syria, Iraq and Iran. It has strong ties with Israel.
Despite the Turkish parliament's refusal in March 2003 to allow U.S.
forces to use Turkish territory to invade Iraq, Turkey by nature of
its location, regional clout and a long-running war against Kurdish
separatists is considered a key player in future events there. The
U.S. airbase at Incirlik is also critical for ongoing U.S. operations
in Iraq.
Now, however, Turkish lawmakers are threatening to force an end to the
U.S. right to use the base if the Armenian genocide bill in passed.
Other possible responses being mulled include a withdrawal of support
for International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in
Afghanistan.
A multi-party delegation of Turkish lawmakers will visit Washington
this week to discuss the matter with U.S. members of Congress, and
Turkish media quoted parliamentary speaker Koksal Toptan as telling
Pelosi in a letter that "it might take decades to heal negative
effects of the bill if it passes."
'National security interests'
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call Friday told
President Bush that although the resolution is non-binding, it would
harm bilateral relations. It would also harm Turkish-Armenian
reconciliation efforts, he added.
(Relations between the two neighbors are not affected only by their
history; Turkey cut diplomatic ties with Armenia over its 1993
occupation of Nagorno-Karabagh, an enclave inside Azerbaijan, a fellow
Muslim ally of Turkey.)
After the conversation, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said,
"the president has described the events of 1915 as 'one of the
greatest tragedies of the 20th century,' but believes that the
determination of whether or not the events constitute a genocide
should be a matter for historical inquiry, not legislation."
Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian
Affairs, noted during a briefing Friday that former Secretaries of
State Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Warren Christopher, Lawrence
Eagleburger, James Baker, George Shultz, Alexander Haig and Henry
Kissinger had warned in a joint letter that the resolution could
"endanger our national security interests in the region, including the
safety of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Supporters of the bill dismiss the argument about angering Turkey.
"There is no question that Turkey is bitterly opposed to recognition
and is threatening our military and commercial relationship, including
access to the Incirlik air base, but Turkey has made similar threats
to other nations in the past only to retreat from them," resolution
sponsor Schiff said in a House speech last April.
He noted that the European Union's stance on the issue had not
prevented Ankara from seeking E.U. membership.
'Jews could be targeted'
Turkish officials said Erdogan also has appealed to Israel's
ceremonial President Shimon Peres to use his influence with
Washington. Last week, Turkish foreign minister Ali Babacan told the
Today's Zaman newspaper that the resolution, if passed, could stoke
anger among Turks directed at Jews, as many Turks had a perception
that Jews and Armenians were cooperating in the campaign.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish organization that counters
anti-Semitism, last August announced that it had reviewed its position
and now regarded the historical events - which it had previously
described as "massacres and atrocities" - as "genocide."
At the same time, however, the ADL said it opposed the resolution.
National director Abraham Foxman said it would not help Turk-Armenian
reconciliation, could put the Turkish Jewish community at risk, and
could jeopardize the important multilateral relationship between the
U.S., Turkey and Israel.
Divisions over the resolution also were evident in a recent decision
by Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat and foreign policy hawk, to
withdraw her support for the bill.
In a letter to the House foreign affairs committee, Harman said while
she viewed the events of 1915 as a "terrible crime ... against the
Armenian people," she would vote against the resolution.
Harman, a former ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee
who currently chairs the homeland security committee's intelligence
subcommittee, said she believed that Turkey "plays a critically
important role in moderating extremist forces" in the Middle East.
"Given the nature of the threat, I believe it is imperative to nurture
that role -- however valid from the historical perspective, we should
avoid taking steps that would embarrass or isolate the Turkish
leadership."
Atrocities
According to the Armenian Research Center at the University of
Michigan in Dearborn, more than half of the 2.5 million Armenians in
the Ottoman Empire were killed in 1915-1916 and again around 1923.
On April 24, 1915 more than 5,000 Armenians were massacred in
Constantinople, today's Istanbul. In other cases, people were first
deported, then killed. Some starved to death in prison camps, and
others were loaded onto barges, which were sunk in the Black Sea, it
says.
Turkey says between 250,000 and 500,000 Armenians, and a larger number
of Muslims, died amid chaos accompanying the collapse of the 600-year
Ottoman Empire and World War I.
"Documents of the time list intercommunal violence, forced migration
of all ethnic groups, disease, and starvation as causes of death.
Others died as a result of the same war-induced causes that ravaged
all peoples during the period," the Turkish government says in a
document responding to the allegations.
Armenia is slightly larger than Maryland, and home to some 2.9 million
people. Some seven million Armenians live abroad, including one
million in the U.S.
Source: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page =/ForeignBureaus/archive/200710/INT20071008b.html