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HOUSE TO PASS BILL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Michal Lando, Jerusalem Post Correspondent
Jerusalem Post
Oct 10 2007
New York
The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee is expected
to approve a bipartisan bill on Wednesday that calls on the US to
recognize the World War I massacres of Armenians as genocide.
The results of the vote will set the stage for a subsequent full
House consideration. If approved in the Committee, it will be up to
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime supporter of such recognition,
to allow for a vote in the House.
The bill is largely expected to pass both the Committee and the full
House despite mounting pressure from Turkey. The bipartisan measure
currently has 226 co-sponsors - more than a majority in the House
and the most support an Armenian Genocide resolution has ever received.
"The United States has a compelling historical and moral reason to
recognize the Armenian Genocide, which cost a million and a half
people their lives," said Rep. Adam Schiff, who sponsored the bill,
in a statement. "But we also have a powerful contemporary reason
as well - how can we take effective action against the genocide in
Darfur if we lack the will to condemn genocide whenever and wherever
it occurs?" Similar bills have been debated in Congress for decades,
but Armenian groups have repeatedly been undermined by concerns about
damaging relations with Turkey.
Now, in the days preceding the vote, Turkish officials warned that
approval of the bill may mean that ties between Turkey the US and
Israel may suffer.
In a letter to Pelosi, Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan said that
"it might take decades to heal negative effects of the bill if it
passes," AP reported. And last week eight former secretaries of state,
Republican and Democrat, urged Pelosi to block it.
On Friday, efforts by Turkey to intercede came through Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who told US President George W. Bush that
the measure would "harm the strategic partnership" between the two
countries. Bush reiterated his opposition to the bill, saying he
recognized the tragedy, but that the determination over whether the
events constitute a genocide should be a matter for historical inquiry,
not legislation.
"They've done everything in their power to scare members away from
voting for it, but if those threats scared people five to 10 years ago,
they don't seem to work today," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director
of the Armenian National Committee, an Armenian interest group. "I
don't think anybody would like to see this adopted by Congress over
their opposition and be remembered as an organization that opposed
it." Similar threats to target diplomatic ties have been launched
against Israel in the last few days.
The widespread perception in Turkey is that US Jewish organizations
have linked up with Armenian groups to "defame" and "condemn" Turkey,
visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told The Jerusalem
Post Monday.
He warned that if a measure characterizing the killing of Armenians
as an act of genocide was approved by Congress in the coming days,
it would not only harm Turkey's ties with the US, but also Ankara's
ties with Jerusalem.
Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, who
has publicly acknowledged the Armenian genocide, harshly criticized
the recent threats by the Turkish government. "This is an ugly and
inappropriate threat by Turkey and it really tells you something
about them when they blame Israel for something the US is doing,"
said Klein. "This doesn't have to do with Jews because they aren't
lobbying for it, and I don't think Israel or America or anyone should
respond to this type of inappropriate threat."
However, such threats have caused some Jewish organizations to stop
short of supporting the congressional bills. The issue erupted
in August, when the Anti-Defamation League reversed its longtime
refusal to recognize the genocide after a disagreement emerged with
its New England chapter. Boston Jews, who have close ties with the
large Armenian community in Boston, widely supported the recognition,
and stood behind New England Regional director Andrew Tarsy, who was
fired after telling the media he disagreed with the national position
on the Armenian genocide. Tarsy was reinstated, but the ADL stopped
short of supporting the congressional resolution.
Foxman continues to oppose the bill. "We are opposed in the sense
that we do not believe this is the place it should be resolved,"
said Foxman. "We may change our minds we may not." ADL's national
policy-making body is expected to discuss the congressional resolutions
at its annual meeting on November 1. Foxman has repeatedly urged the
Turks and the Armenians to resolve the issue between themselves. But
Armenians have refused offers by the Turkish government to establish
a joint commission to study historical facts.
Hamparian compared such a request to calls by Ahmadinejad for more
research on the Holocaust. "I think it's about as sincere as the
Iranian government saying they need to revisit the Holocaust,"
said Hamparian. "I think it's a veiled denial put in the guise of
academic inquiry."
By Michal Lando, Jerusalem Post Correspondent
Jerusalem Post
Oct 10 2007
New York
The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee is expected
to approve a bipartisan bill on Wednesday that calls on the US to
recognize the World War I massacres of Armenians as genocide.
The results of the vote will set the stage for a subsequent full
House consideration. If approved in the Committee, it will be up to
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime supporter of such recognition,
to allow for a vote in the House.
The bill is largely expected to pass both the Committee and the full
House despite mounting pressure from Turkey. The bipartisan measure
currently has 226 co-sponsors - more than a majority in the House
and the most support an Armenian Genocide resolution has ever received.
"The United States has a compelling historical and moral reason to
recognize the Armenian Genocide, which cost a million and a half
people their lives," said Rep. Adam Schiff, who sponsored the bill,
in a statement. "But we also have a powerful contemporary reason
as well - how can we take effective action against the genocide in
Darfur if we lack the will to condemn genocide whenever and wherever
it occurs?" Similar bills have been debated in Congress for decades,
but Armenian groups have repeatedly been undermined by concerns about
damaging relations with Turkey.
Now, in the days preceding the vote, Turkish officials warned that
approval of the bill may mean that ties between Turkey the US and
Israel may suffer.
In a letter to Pelosi, Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan said that
"it might take decades to heal negative effects of the bill if it
passes," AP reported. And last week eight former secretaries of state,
Republican and Democrat, urged Pelosi to block it.
On Friday, efforts by Turkey to intercede came through Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who told US President George W. Bush that
the measure would "harm the strategic partnership" between the two
countries. Bush reiterated his opposition to the bill, saying he
recognized the tragedy, but that the determination over whether the
events constitute a genocide should be a matter for historical inquiry,
not legislation.
"They've done everything in their power to scare members away from
voting for it, but if those threats scared people five to 10 years ago,
they don't seem to work today," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director
of the Armenian National Committee, an Armenian interest group. "I
don't think anybody would like to see this adopted by Congress over
their opposition and be remembered as an organization that opposed
it." Similar threats to target diplomatic ties have been launched
against Israel in the last few days.
The widespread perception in Turkey is that US Jewish organizations
have linked up with Armenian groups to "defame" and "condemn" Turkey,
visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told The Jerusalem
Post Monday.
He warned that if a measure characterizing the killing of Armenians
as an act of genocide was approved by Congress in the coming days,
it would not only harm Turkey's ties with the US, but also Ankara's
ties with Jerusalem.
Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, who
has publicly acknowledged the Armenian genocide, harshly criticized
the recent threats by the Turkish government. "This is an ugly and
inappropriate threat by Turkey and it really tells you something
about them when they blame Israel for something the US is doing,"
said Klein. "This doesn't have to do with Jews because they aren't
lobbying for it, and I don't think Israel or America or anyone should
respond to this type of inappropriate threat."
However, such threats have caused some Jewish organizations to stop
short of supporting the congressional bills. The issue erupted
in August, when the Anti-Defamation League reversed its longtime
refusal to recognize the genocide after a disagreement emerged with
its New England chapter. Boston Jews, who have close ties with the
large Armenian community in Boston, widely supported the recognition,
and stood behind New England Regional director Andrew Tarsy, who was
fired after telling the media he disagreed with the national position
on the Armenian genocide. Tarsy was reinstated, but the ADL stopped
short of supporting the congressional resolution.
Foxman continues to oppose the bill. "We are opposed in the sense
that we do not believe this is the place it should be resolved,"
said Foxman. "We may change our minds we may not." ADL's national
policy-making body is expected to discuss the congressional resolutions
at its annual meeting on November 1. Foxman has repeatedly urged the
Turks and the Armenians to resolve the issue between themselves. But
Armenians have refused offers by the Turkish government to establish
a joint commission to study historical facts.
Hamparian compared such a request to calls by Ahmadinejad for more
research on the Holocaust. "I think it's about as sincere as the
Iranian government saying they need to revisit the Holocaust,"
said Hamparian. "I think it's a veiled denial put in the guise of
academic inquiry."