Voice of America
Oct 11 2007
US House Speaker: Armenian Genocide Measure Will Go Forward
By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
11 October 2007
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The speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, says a
resolution approved by a House committee this week characterizing the
World War I-era killings of tens of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks as genocide will go to a vote in the House. VOA’s Dan Robinson
reports from Capitol Hill, President Bush wants the resolution
stopped, saying it will harm relations with Turkey and U.S. interests
in the region.
Nancy Pelosi, 11 Oct 2007
Speaking a day after the 27 to 21 vote in the foreign affairs
committee approving the resolution, Pelosi reaffirmed her
determination to see the measure come to a vote in the House.
Some 224 House lawmakers have signed on in support of the resolution,
which Pelosi and House majority leader Steny Hoyer say will be
brought up at some point before the House is due to end its current
session, likely next month.
Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference that
congressional resolutions on Armenian genocide have been put off,
with various justifications, over the past 20 years.
There is never a good time to acknowledge that genocide has taken
place, Pelosi adds, whether in the distant past or the present.
"While that may have been a long time ago, genocide is taking place
now in Darfur, it did within recent memory in Rwanda, so as long as
there is genocide there is need to speak out against it," said Nancy
Pelosi.
In the wake of the committee vote, Turkey temporarily recalled its
ambassador in Washington for consultations, a traditional method of
diplomatic protest.
Speaking in Washington, Egemen Bagis, a member of Turkey’s governing
Justice and Development Party and advisor to Turkey’s Prime Minister,
called the House committee vote a mistake and warned of consequences.
However, Congresswoman Pelosi hopes U.S.-Turkish relations will
remain strong:
"The U.S. and Turkey have a very strong relationship," she said. "It
is based on mutual interest and I with all the respect in the world
for the government of Turkey believe that our continued mutual
interest will have us grow that relationship. This isn’t about the
Erdogan government [Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan], this is
about the [former] Ottoman Empire."
Pelosi dismissed suggestions of any connection between the House
resolution moving forward and Turkish government plans for a possible
military incursion into northern Iraq against Kurdish rebels.
Wednesday’s House committee vote highlighted the divisions across
party lines on the resolution, with eight Democrats voting against
and eight Republicans voting for the measure.
At the White House, spokeswoman Dana Perino reiterated President
Bush’s hope that the resolution will go no farther in the House.
"The president has expressed on behalf of the American people our
horror at the tragedy of 1915, but at the same time we have national
security concerns, and many of our troops and supplies go through
Turkey," said Dana Perino. "They are a very important ally in the war
on terror, and we are going to continue to try work with them and we
hope that the House does not put forward a full vote."
In its reaction, the State Department expressed regret over the House
committee vote, saying it may do grave harm to U.S. – Turkish
relations and U.S. interest in Europe and the Middle East.