Wall Street Journal
March 5 2010
Genocide vote irks Turkey
By JOHN D. MCKINNON in Washington And MARC CHAMPION in Ankara, Turkey
A U.S. congressional committee approved a resolution condemning the
1915 slaughter of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide,
rejecting a last-minute Obama administration effort to derail it and
putting a chill on relations with Turkey.
The resolution, approved on a 23-22 vote, faces an uncertain future in
Congress. But nonetheless it could damage U.S. relations with Turkey,
a vital ally in the Middle East and Central Asia. Within minutes of
the vote, Ankara said it was recalling its ambassador from Washington
for consultations. Turkey took a similar step in 2007, when the
committee passed a similar resolution.
Thursday’s vote also raised concerns for big U.S. defense firms
including Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co., Raytheon Co., United
Technologies Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. Turkey is involved in
several big weapons projects with U.S. firms, and the companies are
worried about losing business.
The vote was carried live on most Turkish television and radio news
channels and was seen as a significant blow to Turkey’s attempt at
rapprochement with Armenia.
Armenians say as many as 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed in
1915 during the dying days of the Ottoman Empire. Many historians
agree that the executions and mass deportations into deserts amounted
to genocide. Turkey argues the death toll was lower, and many Turks
contend the deaths were a result of civil war stirred up by World War
I opponents such as Russia, and included atrocities on both sides.
The Obama administration had lobbied members of the panel to demur.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called House Foreign Affairs
Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D., Calif.) on Wednesday and
"indicated that further congressional action could impede progress on
normalization of relations" between Turkey and Armenia, a White House
spokesman said.
That undermined a campaign pledge from then-Sen. Barack Obama, when he
said in January 2008 that "as president I will recognize the Armenian
genocide." The White House spokesman, Mike Hammer, added Thursday that
"the president’s position on the events of 1915 is well known and his
view of that history has not changed."
Until Wednesday, the Obama administration had taken a hands-off
approach to the vote. Mr. Obama on Wednesday called Turkish President
Abdullah Gul to thank him for his country’s efforts to normalize
relations with Armenia and pressed for rapid ratification of
border-opening protocols, the White House said.
Congress has voted to declare the 1915 killings as genocide before, in
1975 and 1984. Armenian lobbyists push annually to reaffirm those
decisions.
"We can now declare the rapprochement with Armenia dead, the border
cannot open now," said Husseyin Bagci, professor of international
relations at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. He
predicted anti-Americanism in Turkey, already strong in recent years,
would rise.
Turkey’s small Armenian community was subdued. "We live with Turks,
and Turkey is changing for the first time in 100 years," said Etyen
Mahcupyan, editor in chief of Agos, a bilingual Turkish-Armenian
newspaper. His predecessor, Hrant Dink, was assassinated by a Turkish
nationalist in 2007. "Of course 1915 is hugely important to us, but
not what the U.S. Congress calls it."
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
