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FLOOR VOTE ON ARMENIAN RESOLUTION MAY BE HELD NEXT YEAR
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Oct 25 2007
Supporters of a US House committee resolution labeling the World War
I-era killings of Anatolian Armenians as genocide have admitted that
they are not confident the resolution will pass if it is allowed to
go the House floor, while a congressman said the resolution is likely
to be brought to the House floor in January.
Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat from Pasadena, and Rep. Brad Sherman,
a Democrat from Sherman Oaks, met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
and said she remains steadfast in her support of the resolution, an
Internet site, Daily Breeze, which covers community news and events
in Los Angeles where a considerable Armenian diaspora population
lives, reported.
"The speaker is personally committed to this," Schiff was quoted as
saying. But, he added, "We don't want to ask her to bring this to
the floor until we're confident it will be successful."
Sherman said, "We cannot afford the risk of losing." He added that
if the resolution came to the floor today, "I couldn't bet my house
on what would happen."
The House proposal, which would label as genocide the killing of
Armenians nearly a century ago by Ottoman Turks, has inflamed US
tensions with Turkey, which says the death toll has been inflated and
that the Armenians died during civil unrest, not organized genocide.
Support for the nonbinding resolution gradually deteriorated last
week after Turkey summoned its Washington ambassador back to Ankara
and several lawmakers spoke out against it. Turkey's ambassador to
the United States, Nabi ªensoy, on Sunday returned to his office in
Washington to follow up on developments.
Sherman said that the Armenian genocide resolution was unlikely to
come to the House floor soon. "January is more likely than this year,"
he told reporters after the meeting with Pelosi, another California
Democrat. "We want to bring it to the floor when we have the votes."
Amid the outcry from Turkey, Pelosi already said last week it was
uncertain whether or not it would come to the floor for a vote.
Meanwhile, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs agreed on Tuesday
to give Turkey several decommissioned US military ships, but the
legislator who sponsored the plan denied it was intended to temper
Ankara's anger over US legislation on the alleged genocide. On a voice
vote, the committee approved the package worth $485 million for Turkey,
which was infuriated by the same panel's vote on Oct. 10 to approve
the Armenian resolution.
Also on Tuesday, Armenia's Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian said in
Washington that he hopes that the US Congress will pass the resolution
but that his country is not lobbying on the issue.
Sarkisian said that he has had other issues including economic and
security cooperation to discuss with US officials in meetings that
began last week. He said Armenia has tried to stay out of the US
political debate.
The resolution did not come up in talks last week with US officials
including Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Robert
Gates or in a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sarkisian
said. He met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday.
--Boundary_(ID_hFtZhicbqVEHJn0fzECa3g)--
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Oct 25 2007
Supporters of a US House committee resolution labeling the World War
I-era killings of Anatolian Armenians as genocide have admitted that
they are not confident the resolution will pass if it is allowed to
go the House floor, while a congressman said the resolution is likely
to be brought to the House floor in January.
Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat from Pasadena, and Rep. Brad Sherman,
a Democrat from Sherman Oaks, met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
and said she remains steadfast in her support of the resolution, an
Internet site, Daily Breeze, which covers community news and events
in Los Angeles where a considerable Armenian diaspora population
lives, reported.
"The speaker is personally committed to this," Schiff was quoted as
saying. But, he added, "We don't want to ask her to bring this to
the floor until we're confident it will be successful."
Sherman said, "We cannot afford the risk of losing." He added that
if the resolution came to the floor today, "I couldn't bet my house
on what would happen."
The House proposal, which would label as genocide the killing of
Armenians nearly a century ago by Ottoman Turks, has inflamed US
tensions with Turkey, which says the death toll has been inflated and
that the Armenians died during civil unrest, not organized genocide.
Support for the nonbinding resolution gradually deteriorated last
week after Turkey summoned its Washington ambassador back to Ankara
and several lawmakers spoke out against it. Turkey's ambassador to
the United States, Nabi ªensoy, on Sunday returned to his office in
Washington to follow up on developments.
Sherman said that the Armenian genocide resolution was unlikely to
come to the House floor soon. "January is more likely than this year,"
he told reporters after the meeting with Pelosi, another California
Democrat. "We want to bring it to the floor when we have the votes."
Amid the outcry from Turkey, Pelosi already said last week it was
uncertain whether or not it would come to the floor for a vote.
Meanwhile, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs agreed on Tuesday
to give Turkey several decommissioned US military ships, but the
legislator who sponsored the plan denied it was intended to temper
Ankara's anger over US legislation on the alleged genocide. On a voice
vote, the committee approved the package worth $485 million for Turkey,
which was infuriated by the same panel's vote on Oct. 10 to approve
the Armenian resolution.
Also on Tuesday, Armenia's Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian said in
Washington that he hopes that the US Congress will pass the resolution
but that his country is not lobbying on the issue.
Sarkisian said that he has had other issues including economic and
security cooperation to discuss with US officials in meetings that
began last week. He said Armenia has tried to stay out of the US
political debate.
The resolution did not come up in talks last week with US officials
including Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Robert
Gates or in a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sarkisian
said. He met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday.
--Boundary_(ID_hFtZhicbqVEHJn0fzECa3g)--
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress