U.S. WARNED AGAINST CALLING ARMENIAN KILLINGS GENOCIDE
Peter Goodspeed, National Post
National Post
Oct 10 2007
Canada
Turkish Outcry
The United States has been warned its relations with Turkey will
be irreparably damaged and U.S. troops in Iraq could be placed at
risk if Congress passes a resolution describing the mass killing of
Armenians 92 years ago as genocide.
Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul sent a letter to U.S. President
George W. Bush yesterday in which he said "serious problems" will
emerge if Congress passes the resolution being tabled for approval
today in the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
Turkey’s parliamentary speaker Koksal Toptan has warned "it might
take decades to heal negative effects" if the motion passes.
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Printer friendly Font:****Congress is being asked to condemn as
genocide the death of some 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and
1917. Turkey rejects the claim, saying the deaths were the result
of wartime fighting.The resolution will have no binding effect on
U.S. foreign policy, but could shatter an already strained relationship
between Washington and Ankara.
The Bush administration opposes the resolution and has pressed
congressmen to reject it. Eight former U.S. secretaries of state —
including Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright —
have also written Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House
of Representatives, to ask her not to call a vote on the bill.
Last year, Turkey cut off military co-operation with France after
the French legislature moved to make it illegal to deny the Armenian
genocide.
Yesterday, the Turkish newspaper Sabah predicted Prime Minister Recep
Erdogan will threaten sanctions if the resolution is passed.