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TURKEY WARNS U.S. OVER GENOCIDE LAW
B92, Serbia
Source: BBC
Oct 9 2007
ANKARA -- Turkey warned the U.S. ties will suffer if Washington adopts
a bill calling WW1 Ottoman killings of Armenians as genocide.
In a letter to U.S. President George W Bush, Turkish President
Abdullah Gul said "serious problems" would emerge if U.S. lawmakers
passed the bill.
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee is due to discuss the bill
this week.
Ankara rejects Armenian claims that the deaths of some 1.5 million
Armenians in 1915-17 amounted to genocide.
It admits that many Armenians were killed, but says the deaths were
a result of widespread wartime fighting in Turkey during World War I.
Armenians have campaigned for the killings to be recognized
internationally as genocide. Some countries have done so.
In his letter, President Gul "drew attention to the serious problems
that will emerge in bilateral relations if the bill is adopted,"
his office said in a statement.
Separately, Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan warned that "it might
take decades to heal negative effects" if the motion was passed.
"Then, it will be difficult to control the dynamics triggered by
Turkish public reaction," Koksal said in a letter to House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi.
Other Turkish leaders have indicated that Ankara could consider
blocking Washington's use of a key military base in Turkey that
provides logistical support in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The House foreign affairs committee is expected to debate the bill
on Wednesday.
If it is approved, Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi may allow a vote.
However, it would have no binding effect on U.S. foreign policy.
Similar bills in 2000 and 2005 were blocked by senior U.S.
politicians. Last year, Turkey cut military co-operation with France
after the French parliament passed a bill to make denial of the
Armenian genocide an offence - even though it never became law.
B92, Serbia
Source: BBC
Oct 9 2007
ANKARA -- Turkey warned the U.S. ties will suffer if Washington adopts
a bill calling WW1 Ottoman killings of Armenians as genocide.
In a letter to U.S. President George W Bush, Turkish President
Abdullah Gul said "serious problems" would emerge if U.S. lawmakers
passed the bill.
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee is due to discuss the bill
this week.
Ankara rejects Armenian claims that the deaths of some 1.5 million
Armenians in 1915-17 amounted to genocide.
It admits that many Armenians were killed, but says the deaths were
a result of widespread wartime fighting in Turkey during World War I.
Armenians have campaigned for the killings to be recognized
internationally as genocide. Some countries have done so.
In his letter, President Gul "drew attention to the serious problems
that will emerge in bilateral relations if the bill is adopted,"
his office said in a statement.
Separately, Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan warned that "it might
take decades to heal negative effects" if the motion was passed.
"Then, it will be difficult to control the dynamics triggered by
Turkish public reaction," Koksal said in a letter to House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi.
Other Turkish leaders have indicated that Ankara could consider
blocking Washington's use of a key military base in Turkey that
provides logistical support in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The House foreign affairs committee is expected to debate the bill
on Wednesday.
If it is approved, Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi may allow a vote.
However, it would have no binding effect on U.S. foreign policy.
Similar bills in 2000 and 2005 were blocked by senior U.S.
politicians. Last year, Turkey cut military co-operation with France
after the French parliament passed a bill to make denial of the
Armenian genocide an offence - even though it never became law.