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GENOCIDE BILL COULD HURT RELATIONS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, NY
Oct 9 2007
Passing a bill that recognizes the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians
as a genocide will strain Israel-Turkey ties, Turkey's foreign
minister said.
Ali Babacan made the comments Monday just days after Turkey's
president, Abdullah Gul, warned President Bush in a letter that Turkish
logistical support for U.S. troops in Iraq may be cut if the bill is
passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
The committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that has the
support of 226 co-sponsors in the House.
Babacan told The Jerusalem Post that he believes American-Jewish and
Armenian groups are attempting to defame Turkey with their support
of the measure on the World War I killings.
Though Babacan believes Jewish groups in the United States support
the legislation, support has been slim. The Anti-Defamation League,
B'nai B'rith and the American Jewish Committee have described the
killings as being "tantamount to genocide" in an effort to ease
Israel's strategic concerns over its relationship with Turkey and to
protect Turkey's Jewish community.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, NY
Oct 9 2007
Passing a bill that recognizes the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians
as a genocide will strain Israel-Turkey ties, Turkey's foreign
minister said.
Ali Babacan made the comments Monday just days after Turkey's
president, Abdullah Gul, warned President Bush in a letter that Turkish
logistical support for U.S. troops in Iraq may be cut if the bill is
passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
The committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that has the
support of 226 co-sponsors in the House.
Babacan told The Jerusalem Post that he believes American-Jewish and
Armenian groups are attempting to defame Turkey with their support
of the measure on the World War I killings.
Though Babacan believes Jewish groups in the United States support
the legislation, support has been slim. The Anti-Defamation League,
B'nai B'rith and the American Jewish Committee have described the
killings as being "tantamount to genocide" in an effort to ease
Israel's strategic concerns over its relationship with Turkey and to
protect Turkey's Jewish community.