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TURKISH PARLIAMENT WARNS US AGAINST 'ARMENIAN GENOCIDE' LAW
Agence France Presse -- English
October 7, 2007 Sunday 2:12 PM GMT
The head of Turkey's parliament has warned the US Congress of the
potential damage to relations between the two countries if a new law
is adopted recognising the "Armenian genocide," his office said Sunday.
The foreign affairs committee of the US House of Representatives is
to next week examine a move to legally term the deaths of hundreds
of thousands of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire a "genocide".
"I hope to have convinced you of the negative repercussions there
will be, if it is adopted, this draft law," Koksal Toptan, president
of the parliament, wrote in a letter to the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The damage to US-Turkish relations "could take decades to repair,"
he added, according to a statement quoted by the Anatolia news agency.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already voiced his
country's concern about the legislation in a telephone conversation
with US President George W. Bush.
And Bush on Friday backed Turkey's stand on the issue.
"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," said White House spokesman
Gordon Johndroe.
Turkey categorically rejects Armenian claims that 1.5 million of
their kinsmen died in systematic deportations and killings during
1915-1918 as the Ottoman Empire was breaking up.
The parliaments of many countries have recognised the killings as
genocide, and Turkey has responded by temporarily downgrading its
political and economic ties with some of them.
Turkey argues that 250,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many
Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took up arms for independence
in eastern Anatolia during World War I.
Agence France Presse -- English
October 7, 2007 Sunday 2:12 PM GMT
The head of Turkey's parliament has warned the US Congress of the
potential damage to relations between the two countries if a new law
is adopted recognising the "Armenian genocide," his office said Sunday.
The foreign affairs committee of the US House of Representatives is
to next week examine a move to legally term the deaths of hundreds
of thousands of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire a "genocide".
"I hope to have convinced you of the negative repercussions there
will be, if it is adopted, this draft law," Koksal Toptan, president
of the parliament, wrote in a letter to the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The damage to US-Turkish relations "could take decades to repair,"
he added, according to a statement quoted by the Anatolia news agency.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already voiced his
country's concern about the legislation in a telephone conversation
with US President George W. Bush.
And Bush on Friday backed Turkey's stand on the issue.
"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," said White House spokesman
Gordon Johndroe.
Turkey categorically rejects Armenian claims that 1.5 million of
their kinsmen died in systematic deportations and killings during
1915-1918 as the Ottoman Empire was breaking up.
The parliaments of many countries have recognised the killings as
genocide, and Turkey has responded by temporarily downgrading its
political and economic ties with some of them.
Turkey argues that 250,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many
Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took up arms for independence
in eastern Anatolia during World War I.