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Fresno Bee (California)
June 15, 2011 Wednesday
FINAL EDITION
Armenian genocide bill reintroduced
by Michael Doyle Bee Washington Bureau
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.
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.
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.
From: A. Papazian
June 15, 2011 Wednesday
FINAL EDITION
Armenian genocide bill reintroduced
by Michael Doyle Bee Washington Bureau
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.
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.
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.
From: A. Papazian