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U.S. HOUSE PANEL OKS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEASURE
CTV.ca News Staff
CTV.ca, Canada
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNe ws/20071010/genocide_071010/20071010?hub=CTVNewsAt 11
Oct 11 2007
A U.S. House committee has approved legislation that classifies the
mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as genocide,
despite the protestations of President George Bush.
The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted in favour
of the resolution 27-21.
The bill will now move to the Democrat-controlled House floor, where
it could pass next month.
The resolution, H. Res. 106, can be found here.
In short, it calls upon Bush "to ensure that the foreign policy of
the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity
concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and
genocide documented in the United States record relating to the
Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes."
Turkey called the legislation an insult, and Bush urged Congress not
to support the resolution.
"This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass
killings," he told reporters Wednesday.
The comments followed a meeting Bush held with Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Rice and Gates issued a joint appeal earlier Wednesday, hours before
the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on the issue.
"This is not to ignore what was a really terrible situation and we
recognize the feelings of those who want to express their concern
and their disdain for what happened many years ago," Rice said.
"But the passage of this resolution at this time would indeed be
very problematic for everything we are trying to do in the Middle
East because we are very dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally
to help with our efforts," she said.
But Democrat Brad Sherman, who represents California, said the
U.S. should not back down from the resolution to protect its
relationship with Turkey.
"We cannot provide genocide-denial as one of the perks of friendship
with the United States," he said.
The Armenian-American Political Action Committee, a lobby group that
promotes Armenian issues in U.S. politics, described the resolution's
approval as a positive first step.
"Today is a great day for the Armenian-American community, but our
work is not yet over and we must thank each and every one of the 26
members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee for withstanding the
intense pressure from President Bush and the Government of Turkey not
to pass this resolution," co-chairs Annie Totah and Edgar Hagopian
said in a press release.
"We are hopeful and optimistic that the entire House of Representatives
will be able to pass this critical human rights resolution shortly."
The basic dispute surrounds the 1915 massacres of up to 1.5 million
Armenians by Ottoman Turks -- widely viewed by scholars as the first
genocide of the 20th century.
Turkey denies that the event was genocide, claiming the toll has been
inflated and that the deaths were the result of civil war and unrest.
Turkish officials warned that the move could damage relations between
the two countries. The U.S. military uses Turkey, a NATO ally, as a
major portal for operations in Iraq.
"I have been trying to warn the (U.S.) lawmakers not to make a historic
mistake," said Egemen Bagis, a close foreign policy adviser to Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Seventy per cent of U.S. air cargo destined for Iraq flows through
Turkey as does about a third of fuel used by the military in Iraq,
Gates said Wednesday.
"Access to air fields and to the roads and so on in Turkey would very
much be put at risk if this resolution passes and Turkey reacts as
strongly as we believe they will," Gates said.
Gates also said that 95 per cent of the new Mine Resistant Ambush
Protected vehicles are flying through Turkey to get to Iraq.
Meanwhile, reports emerged Wednesday that Turkey began shelling
suspected Kurdish rebel camps in Northern Iraq.
"If that area blows up because we don't handle this right, we will
rue the day that could lead to a war much wider than we've seen,"
said Republican Dan Burton, who represents Indiana.
The U.S. opposes Turkey's action, fearing a new war front in the most
stable part of the country.
The Turkish government is currently seeking parliamentary approval
to conduct a cross-border military operation in the region.
In April 2006, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper became the
first Canadian prime minister to publicly declare that the deaths
of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during the First World War
constituted a genocide.
The House of Commons passed a resolution in 2004 characterizing what
happened in Armenia as genocide, but the Liberal government at the
time said it did not constitute government policy.
CTV.ca News Staff
CTV.ca, Canada
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNe ws/20071010/genocide_071010/20071010?hub=CTVNewsAt 11
Oct 11 2007
A U.S. House committee has approved legislation that classifies the
mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as genocide,
despite the protestations of President George Bush.
The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted in favour
of the resolution 27-21.
The bill will now move to the Democrat-controlled House floor, where
it could pass next month.
The resolution, H. Res. 106, can be found here.
In short, it calls upon Bush "to ensure that the foreign policy of
the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity
concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and
genocide documented in the United States record relating to the
Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes."
Turkey called the legislation an insult, and Bush urged Congress not
to support the resolution.
"This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass
killings," he told reporters Wednesday.
The comments followed a meeting Bush held with Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Rice and Gates issued a joint appeal earlier Wednesday, hours before
the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on the issue.
"This is not to ignore what was a really terrible situation and we
recognize the feelings of those who want to express their concern
and their disdain for what happened many years ago," Rice said.
"But the passage of this resolution at this time would indeed be
very problematic for everything we are trying to do in the Middle
East because we are very dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally
to help with our efforts," she said.
But Democrat Brad Sherman, who represents California, said the
U.S. should not back down from the resolution to protect its
relationship with Turkey.
"We cannot provide genocide-denial as one of the perks of friendship
with the United States," he said.
The Armenian-American Political Action Committee, a lobby group that
promotes Armenian issues in U.S. politics, described the resolution's
approval as a positive first step.
"Today is a great day for the Armenian-American community, but our
work is not yet over and we must thank each and every one of the 26
members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee for withstanding the
intense pressure from President Bush and the Government of Turkey not
to pass this resolution," co-chairs Annie Totah and Edgar Hagopian
said in a press release.
"We are hopeful and optimistic that the entire House of Representatives
will be able to pass this critical human rights resolution shortly."
The basic dispute surrounds the 1915 massacres of up to 1.5 million
Armenians by Ottoman Turks -- widely viewed by scholars as the first
genocide of the 20th century.
Turkey denies that the event was genocide, claiming the toll has been
inflated and that the deaths were the result of civil war and unrest.
Turkish officials warned that the move could damage relations between
the two countries. The U.S. military uses Turkey, a NATO ally, as a
major portal for operations in Iraq.
"I have been trying to warn the (U.S.) lawmakers not to make a historic
mistake," said Egemen Bagis, a close foreign policy adviser to Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Seventy per cent of U.S. air cargo destined for Iraq flows through
Turkey as does about a third of fuel used by the military in Iraq,
Gates said Wednesday.
"Access to air fields and to the roads and so on in Turkey would very
much be put at risk if this resolution passes and Turkey reacts as
strongly as we believe they will," Gates said.
Gates also said that 95 per cent of the new Mine Resistant Ambush
Protected vehicles are flying through Turkey to get to Iraq.
Meanwhile, reports emerged Wednesday that Turkey began shelling
suspected Kurdish rebel camps in Northern Iraq.
"If that area blows up because we don't handle this right, we will
rue the day that could lead to a war much wider than we've seen,"
said Republican Dan Burton, who represents Indiana.
The U.S. opposes Turkey's action, fearing a new war front in the most
stable part of the country.
The Turkish government is currently seeking parliamentary approval
to conduct a cross-border military operation in the region.
In April 2006, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper became the
first Canadian prime minister to publicly declare that the deaths
of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during the First World War
constituted a genocide.
The House of Commons passed a resolution in 2004 characterizing what
happened in Armenia as genocide, but the Liberal government at the
time said it did not constitute government policy.