Author: Andres-Papazian

Better.com
Jan 2 2012

Manvel Gamburyan vs. Diego Nunes – Preview: UFC 141

By: James Vincent Cooper

Featherweight bout at UFC 141 is set between Armenian mixed martial
art (MMA) fighter, Manvel Gamburyan and Brazilian MMA fighter, Diego
Nunes, on December 30, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. After unsuccessful
most recent fights, both the contestants are hungry for a victory at
UFC 141, especially Gamburyan, who is on a two-fight losing streak.

He lost to Brazilian MMA fighter, Jose Aldo, at World Extreme
Cagefighting (WEC) 51 in September 2010, followed by a defeat at the
hands of American MMA fighter, Tyson Griffin, at UFC Live in June
2011. After he made his UFC debut in June 2007 he competed in six
fights and lost four of them, putting him in a position where he must
win at UFC 141 to stay with the UFC.

His opponent, Nunes, will also enter the event with a loss suffered
against American MMA fighter, Kenny Florian, at UFC 131 in June 2011.
In his entire MMA career, which began from May 2004, he has won
sixteen fights and lost only 2, making him the more experienced and
confident fighter than Gamburyan. The Armenian MMA fighter, on the
other hand, began his career in 1999 but he only won eleven fights,
suffering defeats on six occurrences.

Looking at their comparative statistics, Nunes seems to be a better
fighter than Gamburyan. Nunes has a thirty-eight percent success rate
with his strikes while Gamburyan has a twenty-seven percent wining
ratio. Gamburyan will have to maintain some distance from Nunes or
otherwise the Brazilian fighter might deliver his onslaught of
striking shots and punches to take an early advantage. After striking,
the most important factor for a fighter is the submission technique
they use. In this fighting genre, Nunes has a thirty-four percent win
ratio while Gamburyan is close behind with twenty-eight percent
success in past matches.

When talking about submission, both fighters will have some problem
taking down each other to implement their submission move as they are
of the same height and weight. The difference will come when they will
use their power and strength in putting down their opponent on the
ground. Nothing can be said for sure because both fighters have the
same tenacity with which they carry out their fights. The difference
will come in the manner they step into the fighting cage and how they
blend with the environment and use their moves.

From: A. Papazian

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 1 2012

Will the spring mood in Turkish-American relations last in 2012?

0 11 January 2012 / ALI H. ASLAN, WASHINGTON

The answer to this question depends on whether the conditions that
created the present mood change this year.
Of course, this includes the strong personal relationship between
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an and US President Barack Obama. The
two leaders work diligently to keep relations on track. ErdoÄ?an is one
of the leaders with whom the American president communicates most
frequently. For Obama, who wants to reconcile with the Muslim world
and take control of the process of change in the Arab world, keeping
Turkey close is a number one priority; Turkey’s influence is visibly
growing in the region, and getting along with its popular prime
minister is a primary concern for Washington.

The advantages of a close relationship with the US president for Prime
Minister ErdoÄ?an, in both domestic and international politics, cannot
be ignored. It is to Turkey’s advantage that Obama will remain in
office until January 2013, even if he loses the presidential election
in November 2012. It is also very likely that the Obama administration
will avoid any risky moves that would jeopardize victory in the
election year. As a president who promised to end American armed
conflicts and fulfilled some of these promises, Obama will refrain
from new ventures at a time when the economy is not in such good
shape. This means for Ankara that an American conflict with Iran, a
scenario that would test US-Turkish relations, is less likely during
this period of time. In response to efforts from Iran to expand its
influence in the region, Washington will exhaust all nonviolent
options. To this end Turkey — along with Saudi Arabia, as the Sunni
power that would balance Iran in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon — will
remain significant in American strategic calculations.

The US will be preoccupied with the election for most of 2012. This
may raise some problems for Turkish-American relations. The Armenian
and Greek lobbies may pressure politicians to adopt resolutions that
would upset Turkey including, potentially, legislation pertaining to
the alleged Armenian genocide. But Turkey’s inclusion in the NATO
missile shield project, its balancing role in Iraq, ability to
confront the Assad regime in Syria, growing economy and soft power
will convince the White House that Ankara is an asset for US national
security and other interests abroad. Despite tensions between Ankara
with Tel Aviv, the Israeli lobby has not taken a hard line towards
Congress vis-Ã-vis Turkey. If Turkish-Israeli tensions remain low, as
they have these final months of 2011, the possibility that the Jewish
front will become angry with Turkey and take it out on Turkey via the
US Congress is remote. Turkey’s preoccupation with domestic security
problems that make it impossible to fulfill its obligations within
NATO, its continued violation of the territorial integrity of Iraq and
deterioration of relations with the Kurds in northern Iraq will not
serve American interests. Therefore, cooperation between Turkey and
the US to combat the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), one of the
crucial elements of this partnership, will remain.

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Jan 2 2012

Opening Armenian-Turkish border to lead to instability-expert

January 02, 2012 | 17:05

YEREVAN. – Opening Armenian-Turkish border currently means export of
the instability from Middle East to South Caucasus and Armenia,
Nagorno-Karabakh primarily, Russian political analyst Andrey Areshev
told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

`The main line in all contacts is the elite character, as well as
insufficient respond of the Armenian-Turkish societies, despite the
efforts of launching a dialogue, including the participation of
Western NGOs,’ the expert said.

Areshev stated that Armenian and Turkish businessmen establish
contacts through the third state in developing trade relations on the
one hand. On the other, opening the border with Turkey may influence
negatively on the development of separate branches of the Armenian
economy.

`Regarding military-political sphere, this step could have meant
strengthening the supplies of the Northern network from the U.S. to
the Central Asia, which will raise negative reaction not so much by
Russia, but by Iran and China,’ the expert concluded.

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Jan 2 2012

Armenia was not influenced deeply by crisis consequences

January 02, 2012 | 11:03

YEREVAN. – Armenia was not influenced deeply by consequences of the
world economic crisis, which is greatest achievement, Prosperous
Armenia Party MP Vardan Bostanjyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

There were elements of steadiness last year, which will help the state
to face various fluctuations this year, he added.

`The greatest flaw was insufficient use of mobilization resources,’
the MP said adding that he expects to solve social issues this year
for the citizens not to leave the state.

He congratulated New Year and wished an unexpected development for Armenia.

From: A. Papazian

Tert.am, Armenia
Jan 1 2012

Representatives of Turkic peoples hold protest in Saint Petersburg
21:04 – 01.01.12

Representatives of Turkic peoples living in Saint Petersburg, Russia,
are highly critical of the French National Assembly for approving a
bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide.

On Dec. 31, they staged a picket in front of the French Consulate
General in Saint Petersburg.

The action was organized by the Azeri community. Ismail Agayev,
Chairman of the International Diasporan Center, announced the goal of
the picket. The participants chanted slogans – `Sarkozy, stop!’,
`France’s parliament, stop!’, `Azerbaijan and Turkey are brothers!’,
`Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan!’

The protesters demanded that France not be allowed to remain OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairing country any more. They also demanded that,
instead of the Armenian Genocide, the French parliament discuss the
so-called `genocide committed by Armenians in Khojaly, in 1992.’

Chairman of the Azerbaijani Society of Saint Petersburg, Rector of
Smolny University Heydar Imanov, Head of the Saint Petersburg office
of the International Diasporan Center Idris Gahramanov, as well as
representatives of the Azeri and Turkish communities handed a message
addressed to the French parliament, president and people over to the
French Consulate.

From: A. Papazian

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 1 2012

A formidable outlook looms ahead for Turkey’s EU policy

1 January 2012 / SELÃ?UK GÃ`LTAÅ?LI, BRUSSELS

2011 was as bad as 2010 for relations between Turkey and the European
Union. It is very likely that 2012 may be worse.
Further bifurcation of the Cyprus issue, the exacerbation of the euro
crisis with ominous signs from France and Spain, no change in the
anti-Turkey stance of Germany and France and the French bid to
penalize the denial of Armenian “genocide” will apparently make 2012 a
hard stretch of time for Turkey.

The second half of 2012 will foment a real crisis with the Greek
Cypriots taking the helm of the EU. 2012 has elections in stock for
Greece, where the euro crisis overthrew the government, and in France,
where it weakened the government. If a miraculous solution cannot be
found to the Cyprus issue and if French President Nicolas Sarkozy is
re-elected, it would not be oracular to suggest that Turkish-EU
relations will grow worse. When two leaders, Dimitris Christofias and
Mehmet Ali Talat, failed to come up with a solution, Talat lost the
elections. As he was replaced by DerviÅ? ErdoÄ?lu, who is known to be
closer to Rauf DenktaÅ?-style policies, hopes for a solution diminished
further. The negotiations between Christofias and EroÄ?lu have failed
to produce concrete results so far. The two leaders will hold another
summit meeting from Jan. 22-24 under the supervision of UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York.

The Greek Cypriots started conducting natural gas exploration in the
Mediterranean while these negotiations were under way, to which Turkey
reacted very harshly, and this made the already intricate negotiations
all the more complicated. EU leaders sent very strong messages of
support to the Greek Cypriots’ natural gas exploration in early
December at a summit, but this further increased the pessimism of
those who hope for a successful completion of the Cyprus negotiations.

The real crisis looming for Turkey is the EU term presidency of the
Greek Cypriots, which will start on July 1, 2012. Turkey has already
announced it will suspend its relations with the EU for six months
starting on July 1. The EU has failed to open a new chapter during the
last three presidencies, i.e., 18 months, and it is very unlikely that
it will open a new one this year.

At the summit held Dec. 8-9, EU leaders came up with an array of
measures to save the euro at the expense of excluding the UK. However,
the positive atmosphere of the summit quickly dispersed. Record
unemployment rates in France and the higher-than-expected budget
deficits in Spain, the fifth biggest economy in Europe, imply that
2012 will see a number of euro summits.

Elections will be held in two EU countries, the results of which will
be the most important for Turkey’s EU bid. Technocrat Lucas Papademos,
who replaced former President George Papandreou when he was toppled by
the euro crisis, will take Greece to the polls in April. Another
election that Turkey will closely monitor is the French presidential
election, which will be held in two rounds in April and May. Although
Sarkozy is behind his Socialist rival, François Hollande, in the
current polls, he has recently closed the gap. If he is re-elected, it
is safe to suggest that Turkish-EU relations will get worse. If he
approves the bill that will penalize the denial of the Armenian
“genocide,” which the French National Assembly recently passed,
Sarkozy’s relations with Turkish officials will deteriorate further.
With this bill, Sarkozy may be trying to secure Armenian votes on the
one hand and deal a deadly blow to Turkey’s EU process on the other.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
Dec 30 2011

Washington sees no ground for “Arab spring” in Baku – U.S. ambassador

BAKU. Dec 30

Washington sees no ground for any revolutions in Azerbaijan, U.S.
Ambassador to Baku Matthew Bryza told reporters at his final press
conference in Baku on Thursday.

He said he did not think that there were any chances of an “Arab
spring”-style revolution breaking out in Azerbaijan.

In Bryza’s opinion, the situation in Azerbaijan differs from the one
that had triggered revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. Besides, there
are many modern-minded people in the Azeri government, who are aware
of the importance of reforms, he said.

No status quo is acceptable either in this issue or in the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, the ambassador went on.

The United States supports efforts aimed at ensuring basic human
rights, including the freedom of assembly and the freedom of speech,
but it does not support revolutions, Bryza said. He added that the
outcome of revolutions was very hard to predict.

From: A. Papazian

The Independent (London)
December 31, 2011 Saturday
First Edition

France’s shamefully forgotten allies: Soldiers of the empire

BY: Robert Fisk

It took Indigènes to remind the French that they owed their liberation
not only to De Gaulle’s largely white Free French troops but also to
134,000 Algerian soldiers, 73,000 Moroccans, 26,000 Tunisians and
92,000 “others” from Sub-Saharan Africa. Indigènes means “natives” but
the English version of the movie was called Days of Glory, which
rather took the sting away. Yet the French have still largely ignored
their massive empire armies of both world wars. And so have we. Where
are the great films, the great novels about the Indians who fought for
King and Empire at the Somme, and in North Africa and Italy?

Wandering the Great War cemetery at Chemin des Dames – the atrocious
1917 offensive, which won for General Charles Mangin the title
“Butcher of the Blacks”, and led to French mutiny – and the British
Second World War graves at Sidon in southern Lebanon, I notice how the
Muslim dead, mostly Senegalese and Algerians and Tunisians in the
first graveyard, Indians in the second, are separated from their
non-Muslim comrades-in-death. A few metres of grass keep infidel and
believer apart (the definitions are interchangeable, of course) as if
sharing the same cemetery is quite enough, without accepting that all
were brothers in humanity.

It’s the same today. A recent exhibition in Beirut showed archive
footage of Australian troops in the 1941 invasion of Lebanon, fighting
and dying and laying railroad tracks and manning gun positions on the
Beirut Corniche. The Lebanese flocked to see the films, especially
Lebanese Armenians who remembered how Australian troops of the Great
War gave their food to the dying victims of the Armenian genocide 23
years earlier. But there were no pictures of the Indian soldiers who
fought and died in Lebanon.

So it’s worth a glance at how “we” Westerners regarded “our” soldiers
over the past 100 years. All praise to Le Monde Diplomatique for
drawing our attention to a sand dune beside a small forest road not
far from the old Courneau camp in the Gironde which is bleakly
decorated with two memorials. One shows African faces, sculpted in
stone. The other says: “To the greatness of Allah.” Yet in a war that
for the first time commemorated the individual names of the fallen,
all that is written here is a dedication “to the 940 Senegalese and 12
Russians who died for France 1914-1918”. Anonymity was enough for
blacks.

The French camp of Courneau was a training ground for newly arrived
Senegalese troops en route to the Somme, but it was also a hospital
base for the sick and wounded of the Somme and Fort Douaumont at
Verdun. And when – after weeks under the snow and the rain of shells –
they did not die of their wounds at Courneau, they died of disease. A
government health inspector predicted in 1916 that the Senegalese,
under the autumn rains and cold, would contract respiratory diseases.
In a camp of 20,000 largely black troops, thousands fell ill each
week. The first soldier died on 28 April 1916, 13 others in May,
including a soldier called Dakpé of the 42nd Battalion, “son of a
father and mother whose names are unknown”. In the archives, the
soldiers’ names are recorded. Mory Bakilé, born at Lambatura, Moriba
Keita from Manikoura. The first black French member of parliament,
Blaise Diagne, raised his voice in protest. But the “cemetery of
Negroes” continued to be filled with corpses.

At least 421 Senegalese riflemen died in 1916, mostly from pneumonia,
then 12 Russians – recruited to fight in France by the pre-Bolshevik
Tsarist government – and then 88 American soldiers died of the same
infections at Courneau after May 1918. Sixty-six of their bodies were
later reburied with military honours in the US, the rest transferred
to the American military cemetery at Suresnes. Their names are on
their gravestones. Not so the Senegalese. A local French architect’s
appeal for a memorial with their names was overruled.

In nearby Bordeaux, says Mar Fall, a sociologist of Senegalese origin,
“they like to avoid topics which are unsettling. If we open the
Pandora’s box of First World War African soldiers, or those of the
Second World War, we will arrive very quickly at the colonial history
of the city.” The city fathers promise a real memorial “after further
study”. The dead African soldiers, whose graves are clearly identified
in the front-line cemeteries, all joined up on the promise of French
citizenship. A further little indignity. Originally, the dead African
soldiers did have their names inscribed on a wooden board above their
individual graves. Then they were reburied in a mass grave and their
names disappeared.

But wait. If we are not yet ready to confront the black Africans’
sacrifice for us, do we dare – like the Franco-Ivorian journalist
Serge Bilé in his new book Sombres Bourreaux (“Dark Executioners”) –
investigate the lives of those black soldiers who chose to fight for
Hitler? For yes, incredibly, the Nazis let a few serve in the Légion
des Volontaires Français. One was Norbert Désirée, a Guadeloupe docker
who wanted to fight Bolshevism in opposition to his communist fellow
countrymen who were demanding independence for their island. Then
there was Louis-Joachim Eugène, also from Guadeloupe, who found German
racism less painful than that of his fellow Frenchmen.

And the Cameroonian Werner Egiomue who loved Hitler but whose black
skin created a scandal in the German High Command. Ahmed Fall from
Senegal was used as a propagandist by the German army. How could these
men – old enough to be our grandfathers – have collaborated with Vichy
or the Nazis, asks Malika Groga-Bada, a journalist for Jeune Afrique,
originally from the Ivory Coast. “Patriotism? A desire to be
recognised?” Unforgivable, of course. But history is cruel and there
is plenty of rusting barbed wire beneath the snow.

Why, I still have copies of Signal, the German propaganda magazine
that remained on open sale in Paris until the 1980s, which show German
troops throwing raw meat at Algerian prisoners-of-war in 1940,
photographs which depict the indigènes as animals fighting for food.
We forget that these poor men were also our Allies.

From: A. Papazian

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 1 2012

A column without a heading

SUAT KINIKLIOÄ?LU

This country makes me schizophrenic. It is often difficult to
ascertain whether one should be content or upset with ongoing
developments.

If you have a conscience and follow what is going on in this country,
you surely have reason to be troubled. Time and again we have proven
incapable or unwilling to solve our major problems through political
compromise. In my wish list for 2012 I listed Turkey’s major issues
that need to be tackled sooner rather than later: the Constitution,
the Kurdish issue, the reckoning with history, finding a reasonable
equilibrium between politics and religion, etc. The list can go on and
on.

When the Armenian issue again resurfaced in France and calls for a
re-examination of the events of 1915 were articulated, a friend of
mine tweeted: `Dersim, the Armenian issue¦ were all of these
historical problems waiting for the AK Party government in order to be
confronted?’ Indeed, they have. The Justice and Development Party (AK
Party) is the outcome of a distinct republican historical process. It
is the product of the inability of the political system to offer
change in the 1990s.

The AK Party has by and large tackled (not necessarily completed) the
major issues that were confronting Turkey at the beginning of the last
decade.

Turkey is less corrupt and illegal mafia-type organizations hampering
normal activity in big cities have largely been eradicated. There are
more normal relations between the military and the political class.
Important strides have been made on the Kurdish issue. As a result of
a number of liberalizing policies Turkey is now an open and dynamic
country. That said, Turkey still has daunting challenges confronting
it.

The Kurdish issue is staring into our face on a daily basis, with few
ideas left to be pursued. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) remains a
fundamental challenge to the security and stability of this country.
We still have an insincere double-speak on some important historical
issues, including Dersim, Ã?orum, KahramanmaraÅ?, the Armenian issue and
Sivas.

Our neighborhood is going up in smokes. From Syria to Iraq, from
Russia to Iran there is little reason to be optimistic. The relative
stagnation and predictability of the dictators has subsided and we are
confronted by the ghosts of the post-World War I order in the region.
The outlook for our southern dimension looks bad. Syria is destined
for civil war, Iraq faces the potential of disintegrating; the rest of
the region does not look less depressing. We have to brace ourselves
for some very turbulent scenarios in the Middle East. The Turkish
economy also may experience problems emanating from the severe crisis
in the European Union. Turkish exporters will see lesser demand from
Euro-economies and the traditional escape from misery in Europe — the
Middle East — is now preoccupied with cutting each other’s throat. A
friend who is exporting textiles to the whole Arabian Peninsula could
only express gloom when talking about demand from his traditional
customers.

So, should we harbor hope for 2012 that things will get better? Maybe
the constitutional process will pick up in the early months of next
year? Maybe the whispers in Ankara about a new democratization package
will offer a new opening? I would not bet on it. I see more pessimism
emerging than the other way around. The issue of succession to the AK
Party leadership is causing immense tension. One can feel it
everywhere in this city. It adds even more drama to the ongoing issues
of concern listed above. There is no doubt that much will depend on
the constitution, what kind of presidency is envisioned in the new
constitution and what that means for the regime as well as the
governing party. I have a feeling I will be writing columns with very
strong headings in 2012. Happy New Year!

From: A. Papazian

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 1 2012

Israel’s knesset maneuvering to exploit tragic 1915 events

1 January 2012 / GÃ-ZDE NUR DONAT / MAHÄ°R ZEYNALOV, Ä°STANBUL

The global Israeli lobby has significantly lessened its previously
staunch support of Turkey in preventing foreign parliaments from
labeling mass killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans in
1915 as genocide, but there is little evidence that current tensions
between Turkey and Israel will ramp up the lobby’s efforts to get the
Armenian massacres recognized as genocide.
Israeli parliametary commission started discussing Armenian killings
of genocide following a controversial bill the French parliament
endorsed last week.

This recent development reinforced an idea that the Israeli lobby is
supportive of the Armenian lobby in pushing parliaments to recognize
Armenian killings as genocide.

The lower house of the French parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor
of a bill that made it a crime to deny that the World War I-era mass
killings of Armenians constituted genocide. Turkey announced a set of
punitive measures against France, halting official contacts, recalling
its ambassador and canceling planned political, economic meetings.
Days later, a committee in the Israeli parliament began debating the
Armenian claims of genocide.

The Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee, headed by
lawmaker Alex Miller, began discussing the issue at a public hearing.
The session was also attended by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin.

The committee considered a proposal to designate a memorial day for
the killings and recognize them as genocide.

Rivlin last Monday denied that the move was in response to events in
the United States or France and said the Knesset has been holding
similar discussions for years.

A strategy for the recognition of the `Armenian genocide’ embraced by
the powerful Armenian lobby around the world has been pursued through
an array of parliamentary initiatives, mostly in Western nations as it
is an effective way of irritating Turkey. Support for Turkey by the
Israeli lobby against similar initiatives was based on the
anticipation that Turkey would maintain its benign foreign policy
toward Israel despite its brutal treatment of the Palestinians.

It has become increasingly clear that the Israeli lobby will cease its
support for Turkey in blocking recognition of Armenian claims of
genocide. But to what extent the Israeli lobby will be supportive of
the Armenian genocide claims still remains unknown.

Israeli diplomats in Ä°stanbul said that whereas Israel believes the
events surrounding the 1915 incidents should be debated, it is also of
the opinion that such a debate should be held in an open forum, an
academic atmosphere, based on facts and research.

The diplomats said it is not the position of Israel that any such
research should be assisted by political discourse.

`I think it’s fair to say that pro-Israel activists and supporters in
[US] Congress will now feel less reticence about backing measures
commemorating the genocide of Armenians,’ Jonathon S. Tobin, senior
online editor of the conservative Commentary magazine, said.

He said most Jews, as well as most Americans in the past, were
strongly inclined to back the Armenians but many held back out of
respect for Turkey’s alliance with Israel. Tobin noted that although
befuddled as most were by what he called the Turkish government’s
aggressive stance on the issue, many thought that it made no sense to
worsen relations with an ally for the sake of a century-old crime
whose perpetrators are long dead.

He added that this led to some intense conflicts within the Jewish
community between those who thought a reluctance to back the Armenians
was cynical and those dedicated to fostering friendship with Turkey.

Soli Ã-zel from Ä°stanbul’s Kadir Has University said the Israeli
Education Ministry earlier wanted to list the 1915 events as genocide
in history textbooks but that it was later decided not to do so. Ã-zel
warned that escalating the push of the Israeli lobby for recognition
of claims of an Armenian genocide won’t be helpful to Turkish-Israeli
relations.

In recent years, former parliamentarian Haim Oron repeatedly attempted
to raise the issue with the Knesset’s education panel, with government
officials moving to cancel the debate. Last year, amid deterioration
in Turkish-Israeli ties, Oron was granted approval to discuss the
alleged genocide in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
meetings.

In 2007, the Knesset decided to shelve a proposal for a parliamentary
discussion on the Armenian genocide, in compliance with then Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert’s request.

Kerim Balcı, editor-in-chief of Turkish Review, said that although the
Israeli initiative last week was faced again with the Israeli
government’s intervention, the Jewish state would continue its bluff
with Turkey over the genocide claims.

`Armenian claims of genocide have been a long-standing instrument at
the hands of different Israeli governments against Turkey,’ Balcı
said, adding that when former Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit in
2002 claimed that Israel carried out genocide against Palestinians,
the Israeli lobby in Washington stated that they would stop supporting
Turkey in their efforts to block Armenian genocide claims to be
debated in the US Congress.

Turkish-Israeli relations were badly damaged last year after Israeli
naval commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara carrying humanitarian aid to
Gaza to breach an Israeli-imposed naval blockade, leaving nine Turkish
civilians, including an American citizen, dead. Turkey demands an
official apology, compensation for families of the victims and an end
to the Gaza blockade. Israel offered only its regrets and says its
soldiers acted in self-defense.

Tobin stressed that it is needless to say that the Turkish
government’s actions in the past few years have undermined the resolve
of those who had opposed Armenian genocide commemoration for the sake
of friendship with Turkey.

`Given the sense of betrayal that many pro-Israel Americans — Jewish
and non-Jewish alike — feel regarding Turkey’s policies, the chances
that many will lift a finger to oppose an Armenian genocide measure
are slim. The moral dilemma that Turkey’s close ties to Israel posed
for those considering the issue is now gone. Where this issue once was
considered one of the most agonizing decisions facing community
leaders, it is now an easy choice,’ he concluded.

From: A. Papazian