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ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILLS RAMP UP DIPLOMATIC TENSION, CABLES SHOW .
By MICHAEL DOYLE
Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/14/2266759/armenian-genocide-bills-ramp-up.html
June 14 2011
FL
WASHINGTON -- An Armenian genocide resolution reintroduced in
Congress on Tuesday will have international repercussions, secret
State Department cables show.
The resolution is intended to put the House of Representatives on
record applying the term "genocide" to the mass killings of Armenians
in the years 1915-1923. Identical or similar Armenian genocide
resolutions have failed to reach the House floor for the past 16 years.
While perennially frustrated, though, the resolutions reliably succeed
in inciting diplomatic chatter, State Department cables made available
through WikiLeaks show.
"Any U.S. definition of the events of 1915 as 'genocide' would set
off a political firestorm in Turkey, and the effect on our bilateral
relationship - including political, military and commercial aspects
- would be devastating," a State Department cable sent from Ankara,
Turkey, warned on Jan. 26, 2010.
A separate section of the cable, made available through WikiLeaks
and classified "secret," noted that the company Sikorsky was trying
to sell helicopters and Raytheon was trying to sell an air defense
system to Turkey.
Additional State Department cables indicate that Turkish military and
intelligence cooperation with U.S. war efforts slowed temporarily
in response to previous congressional consideration of a genocide
resolution. Other countries, too, can get drawn into the issue.
An Oct. 13, 2009, State Department cable from Tel Aviv, classified
"secret" and also made available through WikiLeaks, took note of
"Turkey's annual request for Israeli help in blocking the Armenian
genocide bill in the Congress."
As it happens, moreover, President Barack Obama talked by telephone
Tuesday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A White
House statement said the two leaders "agreed to continue working
closely together."
The White House statement didn't explicitly say whether the Armenian
genocide resolution came up as a topic.
The resolution was introduced with 57 House supporters on board, 14
of them from California, which has a large Armenian population. It
declares that the Ottoman Empire "conceived and carried out" the
killing of 1.5 million Armenians.
"This legislation represents an important opportunity for the United
States to assume a leadership role in genocide affirmation and genocide
prevention, especially in the face of genocide denial," said Bryan
Ardouny, the executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America.
The genocide resolutions sometimes have come close to passing before
being yanked back.
Last year, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the resolution
by 23-22, prompting Turkey to recall its ambassador temporarily. The
bill then stalled. Among the opponents last year was Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., who's since risen to become the chairman of
the committee.
In 2007, the Armenian genocide resolution attracted 237 House
co-sponsors and appeared headed for approval. A combination of
Pentagon, State Department and Turkish lobbying pressure persuaded
25 lawmakers to drop their support and the resolution fizzled.
In a similar vein, House Republican leaders in 2000 pulled the plug on
the resolution minutes before then-Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif.,
was set to bring it up on the floor.
In a flip-flop similar to that shown by previous presidents, Obama
supported an Armenian genocide resolution while he was a candidate
and then backed off once he was in the White House. He avoids using
the term in his annual commemorative statements, issued in April.
By MICHAEL DOYLE
Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/14/2266759/armenian-genocide-bills-ramp-up.html
June 14 2011
FL
WASHINGTON -- An Armenian genocide resolution reintroduced in
Congress on Tuesday will have international repercussions, secret
State Department cables show.
The resolution is intended to put the House of Representatives on
record applying the term "genocide" to the mass killings of Armenians
in the years 1915-1923. Identical or similar Armenian genocide
resolutions have failed to reach the House floor for the past 16 years.
While perennially frustrated, though, the resolutions reliably succeed
in inciting diplomatic chatter, State Department cables made available
through WikiLeaks show.
"Any U.S. definition of the events of 1915 as 'genocide' would set
off a political firestorm in Turkey, and the effect on our bilateral
relationship - including political, military and commercial aspects
- would be devastating," a State Department cable sent from Ankara,
Turkey, warned on Jan. 26, 2010.
A separate section of the cable, made available through WikiLeaks
and classified "secret," noted that the company Sikorsky was trying
to sell helicopters and Raytheon was trying to sell an air defense
system to Turkey.
Additional State Department cables indicate that Turkish military and
intelligence cooperation with U.S. war efforts slowed temporarily
in response to previous congressional consideration of a genocide
resolution. Other countries, too, can get drawn into the issue.
An Oct. 13, 2009, State Department cable from Tel Aviv, classified
"secret" and also made available through WikiLeaks, took note of
"Turkey's annual request for Israeli help in blocking the Armenian
genocide bill in the Congress."
As it happens, moreover, President Barack Obama talked by telephone
Tuesday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A White
House statement said the two leaders "agreed to continue working
closely together."
The White House statement didn't explicitly say whether the Armenian
genocide resolution came up as a topic.
The resolution was introduced with 57 House supporters on board, 14
of them from California, which has a large Armenian population. It
declares that the Ottoman Empire "conceived and carried out" the
killing of 1.5 million Armenians.
"This legislation represents an important opportunity for the United
States to assume a leadership role in genocide affirmation and genocide
prevention, especially in the face of genocide denial," said Bryan
Ardouny, the executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America.
The genocide resolutions sometimes have come close to passing before
being yanked back.
Last year, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the resolution
by 23-22, prompting Turkey to recall its ambassador temporarily. The
bill then stalled. Among the opponents last year was Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., who's since risen to become the chairman of
the committee.
In 2007, the Armenian genocide resolution attracted 237 House
co-sponsors and appeared headed for approval. A combination of
Pentagon, State Department and Turkish lobbying pressure persuaded
25 lawmakers to drop their support and the resolution fizzled.
In a similar vein, House Republican leaders in 2000 pulled the plug on
the resolution minutes before then-Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif.,
was set to bring it up on the floor.
In a flip-flop similar to that shown by previous presidents, Obama
supported an Armenian genocide resolution while he was a candidate
and then backed off once he was in the White House. He avoids using
the term in his annual commemorative statements, issued in April.