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Corriere della Sera, Italy
March 5 2010
The US Chamber of Representatives Challenges Turkey; Ankara Recalls
its Ambassador
by Paolo Valentino
Washington - Right on cue, every year as the 24 April anniversary
looms, the massacre of Armenians towards the end of World War I
returns to poison ties between the United States and Turkey. But this
time Ankara's response looks set to be furious and to weigh heavily on
the economic and political level, in view of the fact that the Obama
administration has done little or nothing to prevent the Chamber of
Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee from approving a resolution
arguing that "the Armenian genocide was conceived and enacted by the
Ottoman Empire from 1915 through 1923." Yesterday afternoon's vote is
not binding, but it paves the way for an official resolution in
Congress, which is precisely the outcome that the Turkish Government
fears and that it has been managing to obstruct for years thanks to
the action of an aggressive and massive lobby into which it pours
millions of dollars. [passage omitted]
"There will be consequences," Turkish Foreign Minister Spokesman Burak
Ozurgegin told Corriere della Sera, adding: "The United States knows
full well what it risks. The issue must be judged by historians. The
word genocide is not a taboo and we want the truth to be discovered.
That is why a special commission has been set up. But if Congress
approves the resolution, not only would that jeopardize the
normalization process with Armenia; also bilateral ties with the
United States and our cooperation over Iraq and over Afghanistan would
be at risk." Faced with a similar vote in the Foreign Affairs
Committee in 2007, Ankara temporarily recalled its representative in
Washington.
[translated from Italian]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
March 5 2010
The US Chamber of Representatives Challenges Turkey; Ankara Recalls
its Ambassador
by Paolo Valentino
Washington - Right on cue, every year as the 24 April anniversary
looms, the massacre of Armenians towards the end of World War I
returns to poison ties between the United States and Turkey. But this
time Ankara's response looks set to be furious and to weigh heavily on
the economic and political level, in view of the fact that the Obama
administration has done little or nothing to prevent the Chamber of
Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee from approving a resolution
arguing that "the Armenian genocide was conceived and enacted by the
Ottoman Empire from 1915 through 1923." Yesterday afternoon's vote is
not binding, but it paves the way for an official resolution in
Congress, which is precisely the outcome that the Turkish Government
fears and that it has been managing to obstruct for years thanks to
the action of an aggressive and massive lobby into which it pours
millions of dollars. [passage omitted]
"There will be consequences," Turkish Foreign Minister Spokesman Burak
Ozurgegin told Corriere della Sera, adding: "The United States knows
full well what it risks. The issue must be judged by historians. The
word genocide is not a taboo and we want the truth to be discovered.
That is why a special commission has been set up. But if Congress
approves the resolution, not only would that jeopardize the
normalization process with Armenia; also bilateral ties with the
United States and our cooperation over Iraq and over Afghanistan would
be at risk." Faced with a similar vote in the Foreign Affairs
Committee in 2007, Ankara temporarily recalled its representative in
Washington.
[translated from Italian]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress