Russia Today
March 5 2010
Turkey furious as US declares Ottoman-era killings of Armenians `genocide’
Published 05 March, 2010, 17:40
Edited 05 March, 2010, 22:58
The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee has approved
a resolution that recognizes the World War I-era deaths of Armenians
in Ottoman-era Turkey as an act of `genocide’.
After hours of discussion, the House of Foreign Affairs Committee
barely passed the resolution with a 23-22 vote that labels the murder
of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide.
Immediately after the vote, Ankara recalled its ambassador from
Washington, condemning the US Committee’s decision.
"We condemn this bill that blames the Turkish nation for a crime it
did not commit. Our Washington ambassador was invited to Ankara
tonight for consultations," Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
said in a statement.
Erdogan went on to warn that `Turkey will not be responsible for the
negative results that this event may lead to,’ saying that
Washington’s decision will `harm Turkey-U.S. ties’ and could derail
talks aimed at opening the border between Turkey and Armenia.
`Unfortunately, by this decision, the US has demonstrated its attitude
towards the Turkic nations. I think that everybody, who considers
himself a Turk, should react adequately and condemn the US Committee’s
decision,’ said Azerbaijani deputy Ganira Pashaeva. She added that
`should take all necessary steps to stop the US Congress from adopting
this resolution.’
Like the Turkish and Azerbaijan response, Armenia’s reaction didn’t
come as a surprise. The Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan
has praised the adoption of the resolution, saying that they `highly
appreciate the decision’ of the congressional panel. `This is further
proof of the devotion of the American people to universal human values
and is an important step towards the prevention of crimes against
humanity," said Nalbandyan.
However, the Committee’s decision is only another step in recognizing
the genocide.
The 23-22 vote now sends the measure to the full House of
Representatives, where the prospects for passage are uncertain. In
2007 a similar notion was adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee;
however, it never made to the next level. After intense pressure by
the Bush administration, who feared passage of the resolution would
harm their war effort in the Middle East, the resolution was not
brought to the House floor.
Despite US President Barack Obama’s vows during the 2008 presidential
campaign to recognize the killings of Armenians as genocide, the White
House had urged against the vote, fearing that it could anger
Washington’s NATO ally, Turkey. However, last year at the annual White
House statement on the day marking the Armenian remembrance, Obama
also failed to call the killings a `genocide’.
A Turkish official showing bread to Armenians dying of starvation.
(AGBU’s photostream )
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had urged the House committee
not to vote, saying that it would damage reconciliation efforts
between Turkey and Armenia. `We do not believe that the full Congress
will or should act upon that resolution, and we have made that clear
to all the parties involved,’ Clinton advised lawmakers.
It’s estimated that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the
Ottoman Turks during World War I. Many historians call this the `first
genocide of the 20th century.’
A number of countries ` including Germany, Russia, Italy, France,
Canada, Greece and most of the US states, as well as the Vatican, the
European Parliament and the World Council of Churches have denounced
the killings as genocide.
Turkey however, says the death toll has been inflated and those killed
were the victims of civil war and unrest, denying that genocide had
taken place. Ankara insists, in order for Armenia to have diplomatic
and economic relations with Turkey, it should drop its claim for
international recognition of genocide.
Olga Masalkova, RT
n-armenia-genocide.html?fullstory