Author: Badalian Vardan

21 FAMILIES MOVE TO ARMENIA BY "ASSISTANCE FOR RETURN OF RA CITIZENS FROM SWITZERLAND" PROGRAM

Noyan Tapan
Oct 17 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. 21 families, that is, 51 people,
have already moved to Armenia by the "Assistance for the return of
RA citizens from Switzerland" program. This information was provided
to a Noyan Tapan correspondent by Hambardzum Abrahamian, the Chief
specialist of the Department of Migration Programs of the Migration
Agency under the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration. He
mentioned that the program is being implemented due to the
sponsorship of the Swiss side, according to the memorandum signed in
2004. According to Hambardzum Abrahamian, those, who return within
the frameworks of the program, are shown health, social-psychological
assistance, they are provided with jobs and as for children of school
age, special educational courses are organized for them.

Those, who return, are given credits in case of introducing a business
program.

CHINA, TURKEY ANGRY AT US MOVES
By Jennifer Loven

The Associated Press
Oct 17 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Democratic Congress, a thorn in President
Bush’s side from the get-go on Iraq, now is contributing to diplomatic
headaches for the White House in other parts of the world.

A Capitol Hill ceremony on Wednesday was to confer the prestigious
Congressional Gold Medal on the Dalai Lama. The reaction from China,
which reviles the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet’s Buddhists as a
separatist, was swift and angry.

Beijing pulled out of an international strategy session on Iran – a
subtle reminder to the Bush administration that China’s vote will be
the key to winning the new United Nations sanctions on Tehran sought
by the United States.

Turkey, meanwhile, is considering retaliation for a House resolution
labeling as genocide the World War I-era killing of up to 1.5 million
Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey denies
the deaths were a systematic campaign to eliminate Armenians and
considers a committee’s passage of the resolution last week an affront.

Both actions amount to a sharp poke in the eye to countries whose
cooperation is sorely needed by the United States on big issues
including the Iraq war and the fights to contain Iran and North Korea’s
nuclear ambitions. They lessen Bush’s ability to wheel and deal abroad,
where leaders and the people make little or no distinction between
U.S. policy that originates in Congress or at the White House.

And these are only the latest examples of Congress, in Democratic
hands since January, doing what it pleases on foreign policy with
little ability for the White House to change the outcome.

In April, for instance, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a high-profile
visit to Syria, a diplomatic overture that was at odds with White
House policy and sharply criticized by Bush.

The House also this summer passed a resolution that urged Japan to
more clearly and formally apologize for forcing thousands of Asian
women into sex slavery during World War II, increasing tensions with
Tokyo and contributing to a rise in anti-American sentiment in Japan.

And lawmakers are blocking approval of a pending free-trade deal
with South Korea because of barriers erected by Seoul to keep out
U.S. autos and beef.

"It entirely weakens the administration’s leverage in these countries,"
said Mike Green, who worked on Bush’s National Security Council and
is now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a
Washington think tank. "It looks like a gratuitous political attack
on an ally."

The accolades for the Dalai Lama in Washington this week have provoked
an unusually blunt response from Beijing, which particularly resents
Bush’s role. To be sure, Congress had a Republican majority last year
when it approved adding the Dalai Lama to the list of those given its
highest civilian honor. Yet, it wasn’t until Democrats took over that
the decision was made to stage a public presentation ceremony.

But unlike the vote that angered Turkey, Bush supports the move
to honor the Tibetan leader and will deliver brief remarks at the
festivities in the Capitol Rotunda.

He had little choice; he’s only missed other Congressional Gold Medal
ceremonies because of travel. Skipping one for the Dalai Lama could
have produced worse consequences than following precedent.

But Bush also chose to host the spiritual leader for a private
meeting on Tuesday in the White House residence – again following
precedent, but one that mightily displeased China. In one small nod
to Beijing’s concerns, the White House decided against following the
previous practice of publicly releasing a photo of Bush and the Dalai
Lama together.

Bush argued during a Wednesday news conference that "I don’t think
it’s going to damage – severely damage" the Washington-Beijing
relationship. The issue of religious freedom in China, and particularly
Tibet, has long been on the U.S.-China agenda, and Bush informed
Chinese President Hu Jintao in September that he would participate
in Wednesday’s ceremony, at the same time that he promised to attend
the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Turkey, meanwhile, is a full-on ally, a NATO member and a key Muslim
partner for Washington even more critical now because of the many
supply lines to troops in Iraq that go through and over the country.

The United States also is working to keep Turkey from launching an
offensive against Kurdish rebels across the border in northern Iraq,
fearing it would destabilize one of Iraq’s most stable areas.

Turkey’s Parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved such a
military action.

"Congress has more important work to do than antagonizing a democratic
ally in the Muslim world, especially one that’s providing vital
support for our military every day," Bush told reporters Wednesday.

EDITOR’S NOTE _ Jennifer Loven covers the White House for The
Associated Press.

"EDUCATION AND CAREER EXPO-2007" EXHIBITION TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN BETWEEN OCTOBER 16-18

Noyan Tapan
Oct 16 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The 8th international specialized
exhibition titled "Education and Career EXPO-2007" will be held in the
"Moscow house" cultural-business center between October 16 and 18.

According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the Press
Service of the "LOGOS EXPO" exhibition center, the main goal of the
exhibition is to provide schoolchildren and students with information
concerning the whole sphere of modern education, to contribute to the
establishment of practical relations between educational institutions
and enterprises, as well as to inform about specialities, which are
in great demand in the employment market. In addition to this, it
aims at organizing meetings between the unemployed and real employers.

Educational institutions, that is to say, higher educational
institutions, colleges, educational centers and international donor
organizations, operating in Armenia and abroad will take part in this
event organized by the "LOGOS EXPO" exhibition center.

Hernando Today, FL
Oct 13 2007

Turtle instead of an eagle
By JOHN NASH
Published: Oct 12, 2007

The situation involving Turkey and our pork-fed Congress can have
serious impact on U.S. hopes to pacify the Middle East. Although they
have no business doing so, our liberal and feckless Congress is
wasting time, while undermining the security of the world, by
catering to a small-but-active political lobby demanding that the
U.S. officially condemn modern Turkey for alleged atrocities
committed during a war that took place a century ago, when Turkey was
ruled by a significantly different government.
Such a thoughtless and ridiculous act will accomplish little other
than so straining Turkish-American relations that we may lose an
important air force base. Even worse, we could lose the support and
friendship of Turkey, the only bridge between Asia and Europe,
between East and West, between radical Islam and rational secularism.
What is the basis for strident claims that the Ottoman Empire
(predecessor to today’s Turkey) attempted to wipe out Armenians
living in the Empire during the First World War?
Unfortunately, irrefutable details are hard to come by and as a
result, both sides of the argument routinely present grainy photos
and other questionable evidence to support opposing claims.
All that seems clear is that large numbers of Armenians, while
residing in the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire (today’s eastern
Turkey), allied themselves with the Ottoman’s traditional enemy,
Russia. Understandably viewed as an intolerable situation by the
Turks, a campaign was mounted to move them out of Turkey; in that
process perhaps hundreds of thousands of the Armenians perished – so
also did large numbers of Turks.
If we Congress persists in its condemnation of modern Turkey, for
what its distant ancestors are alleged to have done, the U.S. and its
attempts to make the world a safer place will almost surely suffer
penalties with potential for major military and diplomatic setbacks.
Thirty years ago, when the U.S. carelessly chose to publicly side
with Greece in its dispute with Turkey over the island of Cyprus, we
naively cut off military aid to our staunch Turkish ally. The Turks
were quick to retaliate, by essentially closing down some dozen U.S.
military installations in Turkey. In that process, the U.S. lost
vital intelligence being gathered by radio intercept,
over-the-horizon radar to detect missile launches in the Soviet Union
and various other sensors used to detect missile and bomb tests by
the Soviets.
Although we kept those installations open in a caretaker status for
several years, we eventually abandoned them, turning ownership of
small cities of homes and other facilities over to the Turks. During
that period of avoidable tension between the allies, Iranians were
allowed to invade the U.S. Embassy in their capital city. From
November 4, 1979 until Jan 20, 1981, Iran held 62 diplomats hostage,
having no fear that President Jimmy Carter would take effective
action against them for their international crime. At one point, the
Pentagon did, however, plan a major operation to both punish Iran and
rescue the hostages.
A still-operating U.S. airbase at Incirlik in southern Turkey, was
the cornerstone of that massive operation. Without warning Ankara,
the U.S. began gathering the necessary air forces at Incirlik. A
Turkish colonel, who’d taken control of Incirlik during the Cypriot
fiasco, went on television to advise the nation that "No American
aircraft will be allowed to start its engines, except in preparation
for a return trip to where they had come from."
An alternate plan to invade Iran with a helicopter force of special
forces from places other than Turkey met an ignominious end in the
desert. Iran subsequently released the captives one day after a
strong president (Ronald Reagan) took the oath of office]. Incirlik
today has become world famous as the main air base supporting our
military objectives in Iraq and other nations of the region. If
Turkey shuts it down as a result of our silly resolution of
condemnation for some long-distant act of war, the impact will likely
be immediate and tragic.
You’d think that we’d learn from history, but we clearly refuse to do
so. Our Congress is like a tortoise, which when picked up and turned
around, will repeatedly turn itself back to its prior route — even
wandering across a heavily traveled highway. Perhaps we should
replace out national symbol – the fierce and swift eagle – for a
single-minded, lumbering, tortoise.

J. G. Nash is a long-time resident of Florida. He writes regularly
about travel, as well as providing opinion columns. Comments may be
sent to him at [email protected].

olumnists/MGBMP1X2P7F.html

Worcester Telegram, MA
Oct 13 2007

Local Armenians cheer action

House to vote on genocide resolution

By Thomas Caywood TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER – For Armenian-American Van M. Aroian, the brewing
diplomatic crisis over a proposed congressional resolution labeling
the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire a genocide comes
down to expediency versus morality.

He sees the choice like this: Congress can placate the Turkish
government to preserve an important ally in the Iraq war, or it can
take a public stand against genocide, come what may.

`Most Armenians think, as do most Americans, that American foreign
policy has to be based on some moral ideals,’ said Mr. Aroian, whose
mother as a young girl fled the mass killings during and after World
War I in what is now Turkey. `When the genocide is denied, it
continues on a psychological level.’

The Turkish government attributes the deaths and displacement of
Armenians between 1916 and 1923 to civil war and general unrest and
disputes the claim that up to 1.5 million were killed. Turkey has
threatened to cut military ties with the United States over the
resolution, which made it out of committee Wednesday and is expected
to come to a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives
by Thanksgiving.

Local Armenian-Americans cheered the news that after decades of
trying the resolution is headed for a vote on the House floor, where
it appears to have enough support to pass. Its prospects in the
Senate are less clear.

The Turkish government, meanwhile, has dug in its heels against the
resolution – recalling its ambassador for consultations and yesterday
publicly musing about invading the Kurdish area of northern Iraq.

`I just hope that people understand that it’s still in the best
interest of the United States not to back off human rights because of
threats from any country,’ said Armenian-American Lara R. Kopoyan of
Northboro.

George Aghjayan, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of
Central Massachusetts, said the group’s members are pleased to see
the resolution move forward but are far from declaring victory.

`It was such a difficult vote, and people were very relieved at the
outcome,’ he said. `We’re very, very excited, but there’s still a lot
of work to do.’

Mr. Aghjayan said members of his group have been lighting up the
switchboards in congressional offices all week urging lawmakers not
to be swayed by the Turkish threat to cut off access to their air
bases.

`Are the people treating the issue this way, the ones we really want
to be working with as our allies?’ he said.

Mr. Aroian said he fears the threat of a diplomatic fall out with
Turkey might become an excuse for lukewarm supporters of the
resolution in Congress to `get off the hook,’ he said.

The Pentagon has said roughly 70 percent of air cargo supplies for
American troops in Iraq pass through Turkey, and American forces use
Turkish airspace and airfields to fly missions in Iraq.

Mr. Aroian said he can appreciate the delicate position the Bush
administration is in with the Turks, but he sees no reason why
President Bush can’t throw his weight around too.

`He’s got to say, `Hey, you’re an important ally, but why don’t you
act as a responsible country? Open up that border with Armenia,’ ‘
Mr. Aroian said. `If President Bush is trying to be the leader of a
democracy with some international standing, he’s got to put some
pressure on the Turks to obey international law.’

As the killings raged last century, Mr. Aroian’s mother, who was 8
years old at the time, slipped into the Syrian desert with her
mother. The two were separated there somehow, and his mother ended up
first in Egypt and then with an aunt in Woonsocket, R.I. She later
learned that her mother was still in Syria.

`I can remember coming home from school and looking up to see my
mother in the window,’ he said. `If her head was down, I knew my
mother was crying, and I knew when I walked up the stairs there’d be
a letter from my grandmother.’

0130355/1116

ArmRadio – Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 13 2007

His Holiness Garegin II blesses Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial

13.10.2007 11:26

On a day that started with His Holiness Karekin II delivering the
opening prayer in the House of Representatives and ended with the
favorable vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee which referred
the Armenian Genocide resolution to the floor, the Armenian
Catholicos also stopped at the landmark Washington building which is
being converted into the Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial.

In remarks upon the conclusion of the blessing of the house service,
His Holiness said: "I bring my appreciation for your efforts to
memorialize the victims of the Armenian Genocide." Standing with the
Catholicos are Near East Foundation Board of Directors Chairman Shant
Mardirossian, Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial Building and
Operations Committee member Zaven Tachdjian, His Eminence Archbishop
Khajak Barsamian of the Diocese of the Armenian Church, AGMM Board of
Trustees Chairman Hirair Hovnanian, AGMM Committee Chairman Van
Krikorian, former chairwoman of the Armenian Assembly of America
Board of Directors Annie Totah, and former chairman of the Armenian
Assembly of America Board of Directors Peter Vosbikian.

Global Insight
October 12, 2007

Turkey Recalls Ambassador From U.S. as Tensions Escalate Over
Armenian Genocide Vote

by Mandy Kirby

Turkey remained defiant today, following a referral of the Armenian
genocide resolution to the U.S. House of representatives.

Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the United States for
"consultation", following the decision of U.S. House of
Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to refer a bill recognising as
genocide the 1915-1918 slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman
Empire troops. The Turkish government said that Ambassador Nabi
Sensoy has not been permanently recalled, but would be in Turkey for
some days to discuss further action.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul was quick to condemn the resolution as
a betrayal of his country from one of its key allies, within minutes
of the vote on 10 October. Turkey accepts that atrocities were
carried out, but has denied genocide, as well the number of 1.5
million generally accepted by historians. Turkey has asked for a
joint commission of Armenian and Turkish historians to be convened,
and wants recognition for the thousands of Turks and others who died
during the civil and military unrest of the time, in atrocities
carried out by several states. However, more than 20 countries have
passed similar resolutions, calling on Turkey to accept its past.

Global Insight

Perspective
Significance Turkey has recalled its Ambassador to the U.S. for
"consultations" following the passing of a resolution recognising as
genocide the 1915-1918 slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians by troops
of Ottoman Turkey.

Implications
Despite the opposition of key administration members, including
President George W. Bush, the resolution’s future is now in the hands
of the House of Representatives, and Turkish-U.S. relations are under
threat, paving the way for scrabbling diplomacy to ensure the fallout
does not extend into regional destabilisation.

Outlook
The deterioration in relations with the United States heightens the
risk of Turkey taking unilateral action in pursuit of Kurdish rebels
into northern Iraq. Turkey could also threaten to limit U.S. access
to the Incirlik air base, which provides logistical support to U.S.
troops in Iraq. However, Global Insight believes that any such
unilateral action is highly unlikely.

Risk Ratings
This is potentially the most serious issue to have hit U.S.-Turkish
relations. The implications radiate into the region, which can ill
afford destabilisation. On a positive note, Turkish-U.S. business
relations are unlikely to suffer, although Turkish public opinion has
certainly shifted towards general opposition to the United States as
whole. Currently, Turkey’s security-risk rating reflects the tense
border situation, but a risk upgrade would be necessary in the event
of Turkish unilateral action in Iraq.

Iraq Threat

>From the perspective of the U.S. administration, the situation is
fraught with difficulties. Leading members had warned against the
timing of resolution, with Turkey set to tackle the increasingly
critical issue of separatist rebels in the southern Turkish and
northern Iraqi regions. The content of the resolution provoked a
similar warning, as it calls for the resolution to inform U.S.
foreign policy. Opponents include President George W Bush, as well as
Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice, who condemned the actions of the vote as endangering U.S.
national security interests, hinting that the action would endanger
U.S. troops serving in Iraq.

The reasons for this are twofold; Turkey has recently moved to a more
aggressive position to pursue Kurdish rebels, debating authorizing a
cross-border incursion in pursuit of rebels from the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), largely based in the northern Iraqi regions, and
in particular in the difficult terrain of the Qandil mountains.
Secondly, a considerable concern for the United States is the
possibility that access to the Incirlik base would be restricted or
closed down. The base provides significant logistical support to U.S.
troops in Iraq, acting as a cargo conduit. Although the United States
has functioned without Turkish support in the past when in 2003
parliament voted against opening a second front into Iraq, loss of
access to Incirlik could compromise U.S. operations in the short
term.

Terrorism Issue Paramount to Turkey

The issue of separatist rebels should not be underestimated; it has
now taken on paramount importance for Turkey, and the genocide
resolution gives the government a pretext to take a more hard-line
approach to the issue. The Turkish government, seeing public opinion
sway after a raft of recent fatalities of soldiers and civilians, and
a key report discussed in the last week over rebel capabilities,
changed its position earlier this year. Then it gave assurances that
parliament would be consulted over any incursions into Iraq,
stressing this would be a last resort (see Turkey: 13 June 2007: ).
Now, it feels the threat is justifying a stronger response. The U.S.
is clearly and vehemently opposed to unilateral Turkish action across
the border, which it fears would destabilise Iraq’s northern
Kurdish-dominated regions. Although Turkey and Iraq recently signed
co-operation agreements on rebel pursuit, the autonomous Kurdish
administration (KRG) has paid little heed to these, and is unwilling
to get involved in the dangerous pursuit of rebels, leaving many to
conclude that northern Iraq is something of a safe haven. Previous
attempts to track rebels have had mixed success, and the Turkish
military now believes that only a sustained presence in a roughly
60-kilometre border region would have a marked effect on rebel
presence. The present, periodic "hot pursuits" do not do enough to
damage rebel infrastructure, and even cross-border operations are
unlikely to succeed if they are too brief, the government believes.
While Turkey has carried these out in the past, such operations have
has always had the support of the Iraqi government, which is visibly
lacking now.

Outlook and Implications

Turkey has been incensed by the passing of the genocide resolution by
the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, although the
issue is by no means unanimously decided. The committee voted 27-21
to approve the resolution, which will now be formally put to the
House of Representatives. Its fate there lies in the hands of the
Democrats that control the chamber. The Republicans are largely
against passing the measure, and in this instance the issue more the
usefulness of this particular resolution, its wording, and–most
critically of all–its timing.

Other relationships will be affected; the situation has implications
for Turkey’s position as a European Union (EU) candidate state, with
France leading a call for recognition of genocide–although this
throws up controversies too, as President Nicholas Sarkozy
controversially told Algerians subjected to atrocities under French
rule that the sons could not be expected to apologise for the sins of
their fathers. When the French resolution was passed, Turkey
suspended contacts with the French military, but France has the upper
hand in this situation, being able to prevent Turkey’s EU ambitions.

Although the Iraqi government will protest any unilateral moves, it
has difficulties of its own, with the KRG not heeding messages from
central government, and more keen to protect its own. Pressure is
unlikely to be brought to bear, given the risk of an move by the
region to secede–taking the oil and gas-rich city of Kirkuk with
it–a fear shared by Iraq, the United States and Turkey. Relations
with Israel may also suffer, with Turkey unhappy that its ally,
Israel, did not push harder to prevent the resolution from being
voted on; the Israeli line remains that historians and not
politicians should and that the issue is an internal U.S. one.
Additionally, the Anti-Defamation League reversed its position in
August this year and declared the slaughter of the Armenians
"tantamount to genocide".

Turkey’s reaction may well be seen as rash. Had it held off acting,
and taken this non-binding resolution in a different spirit, this
obstacle could have been overcome. Instead, there is now less scope
for compromise. Turkey, which has exhibited reactionary foreign
policy often in the past, will now be looking for reassurance and
concessions from the United States. This may happen in some respect,
and go towards soothing Turkish sensitivities, but the United States
will not jeopardise its own interests, and will extend only nominal,
placatory measures. The critical issue is whether bilateral relations
will be damaged more profoundly; Turkey has felt increasingly
sensitive to the lack of support it perceives over the rebel issue.
U.S.-Turkish business relations are less likely to suffer, being well
established. This is small comfort ahead of a tense few days to
ensue, with backroom diplomacy going into overdrive.

MONEY REMITTANCES TO ARMENIA IN NINE MONTHS REACH $1.2 BILLION

ARMENPRESS
Oct 11 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11, ARMENPRESS: Money remittances from Armenians
working in Russia, USA and other countries to relatives in Armenia
in January -September of this year rose almost 30 percent from a year
ago to $1.2 billion.

These figures were unveiled today by Armenian Central Bank governor
Tigran Sarkisian, who spoke at the opening of an international
conference on retail banking services in Yerevan.

Sarkisian said the Central Bank forecast was a 10 percent growth. The
bulk of money transfers- 70 percent- are coming from Russia.

Sarkisian said handling money remittances have become a very lucrative
business in Armenia. Unlike Armenia, money remittances to Russia
make annually some $700 million while transfers from Russia reach
$3 billion, according to Garegin Tosunian, chairman of the Union of
Russian Banks.

According to Tigran Sarkisian, local commercial banks have earned
8.5 billion Drams this year from providing money transfer services,
by 2 billion drams more form a year ago. He said also no bank is
dominating in this sector and because of competition the banks have
to lower their commission charges.

KEY IRAQ ALLY TURKEY ANGERED BY HOUSE MOVE
By William H. McMichael – Staff writer

Navy Times, VA
Oct 12 2007

A valued ally in the U.S. war on terrorism could be on the verge of
turning its back on that effort over what the Bush administration
says is an ill-timed House resolution condemning the 1915-1917 mass
killings of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "genocide."

And Turkey may be taking its own war on terror across the Iraqi border,
where Kurdish rebels who hope to create an independent socialist
state in the greater region are said to be hiding. The Associated
Press reported today that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has
suggested that his parliament could hold a vote next week to allow
cross-border military operations.

AP reported Wednesday that Turkish warplanes and helicopters were
already striking positions along Turkey’s southern border with Iraq
in an attempt to rout the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party,
which the U.S. and others have labeled a terrorist organization.

The New York Times reported today that a recent uptick in violence
blamed on the rebels has prompted the action. More than 20 years of
Turkish conflict with the separatist group has produced some 30,000
total casualties, according to the U.S. State Department.

"The violence that has been undertaken by the PKK is an enormous
challenge," Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in
Iraq, told AP Thursday. "It’s really a strategic issue. So we are
again very understanding of the concern [the Turks] have over these
terrorists who are up in the very, very high mountains that straddle
the border there."

Despite the massive U.S. presence in Iraq, it has no forces of any
significance in the country’s most northern reaches, controlled by
Kurdish militia forces allied with the U.S.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Thursday he was unaware of any
increase in U.S. force presence in the Kurdish-controlled north.

Whitman said the U.S. wants to get Turkey and Iraq to work on a
"long-term solution to what has been a problem for some time. And the
long-term solution is not … military action along the border." He
said the best way forward would be a "political and diplomatic
agreement on a way forward."

Turkish anger over the continued rebel presence and the resolution
places the U.S. in an extremely awkward position. Turkey, a NATO
ally, plays a key role in the U.S. war in Iraq. According to Defense
Secretary Robert Gates, 70 percent of American air cargo bound for
Iraq passes through Turkey, as well as 30 percent of the U.S. fuel.

"We are concerned about that," Petraeus said. "A lot our supplies
come through Turkey. … To maintain that commercial exchange is
hugely important through the border crossing at Habur Gate. And we
hope that will continue."

In addition to basing rights at Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base, Turkey
has commanded two security force rotations in Afghanistan and is a
partner in the Joint Strike Fighter project, according to Gates.

Sixteen U.S. Navy ships also made port calls in Turkey last year.

Turkey has not yet said whether or how the resolution could affect
its support of the U.S. war. But AP reported that Turkish President
Abdullah Gul warned of "serious troubles" if the measure was adopted
by the full House. U.S. officials underlined such sentiments.

"The Turks have been quite clear in saying that they will think very
carefully about some of the measures that they have to take if this
resolution passes," Gates told reporters in London today. "I think it’s
worth noting that the French parliament passed a similar resolution
and there were a number of steps taken by the Turkish government to
punish, if you will, the French government."

State Department spokesman Tom Casey added today, "Turkish officials
have made clear their very strong concerns about this and have
raised questions about potential consequences in the event that this
resolution passes."

Turkey’s U.S. ambassador was ordered back home Thursday for discussions
about the measure, and cited a private Turkish TV network report
that Turkey’s top naval officer cancelled a planned trip to the U.S.,
AP reported.

On Wednesday, the House Foreign Relations Committee passed a
non-binding resolution condemning the 1915-1917 killings as genocide –
something long and widely acknowledged by historians but vehemently
denied by Turkey, which says the killings were not government-sponsored
and which claims that hundreds of thousands of Turks also died in
fighting during the era.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., whose district has large numbers of
Armenian Americans, has long backed the measure, which is co-sponsored
by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. It also has the support of
two Democratic presidential contenders, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New
York and Barack Obama of Illinois.

U.S. administration officials acknowledge the tragedy but said the
resolution needlessly sparks outrage over an issue of high emotional
significance to a strong ally.

"I think we all recognize there were mass murders 95 years ago, 1915,"
Gates said. "The problem that we have is that this is clearly a very
sensitive subject for one of our closest allies, and an ally that is
incredibly important to the United States in terms of our operations
in Iraq."

Pelosi acknowledged the "very strong relationship" the U.S. has with
Turkey and told reporters today that "this isn’t about … the Erdogan
government. This is about the Ottoman Empire."

As to why the issue was being pressed now, she replied, "There’s never
a good time. And all of us in the Democratic leadership have supported
our making – reiterating the Americans’ acknowledgement of a genocide."

Gates said the timing was poor.

"I think we all have to take into account the cultures and history
of individual countries," he said. "And all I can say is that a
resolution that looks back almost 100 years to an event that took place
under a predecessor government – the Ottomans – and that has enormous
present-day implications for American soldiers and Marines and sailors
and airmen in Iraq is something we need to take very seriously."

Casey agreed. "We don’t believe that passage of such a resolution is
helpful either to the cause of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation or to
U.S. national security interests. … The determination of whether
these events constitute genocide is something that we believe should
be a matter for historical inquiry, not for political debate."

10/military_turkeyiraq_071011w/

RIGHTEOUSNESS BEFORE REALISM

The Guardian, UK
Oct 11 2007

The decision on Capitol Hill to accuse Turkey of genocide a century
ago could have disastrous repercussions in the present.

Simon Tisdall

About Webfeeds October 11, 2007 12:30 PM | Printable version
Imperial delusions die hard – and once again the US Congress is
trying to legislate for the world. As most Turks see it, this week’s
committee vote in the House of Representatives accusing Turkey of
genocide against the Armenians in 1915-17 is an insulting, gratuitous
interference in their sovereign affairs. As the 27 Democrats and
Republicans who backed the bill see it, it is a matter of putting
the world to rights, according to America’s lights.

Congress has a long history of extraterritorial meddling. It regularly
slaps unilateral sanctions on "rogue" governments, and orders foreign
businesses and individuals to obey its strictures, regardless of
nationality. Its attempts to direct US foreign policy are resisted
by the executive branch to varying degrees. On Cuba, Venezuela,
Iran and Israel, White House and legislature mostly agree.

On Turkey, like Iraq, they are at noisy loggerheads.

"We oppose the bill. We think it is a bad idea that will do nothing
to improve Turkish-Armenian relations. It will not do anything to
advance American interests," Daniel Fried, assistant secretary for
Eurasian affairs, told Turkish television this week. President Bush,
the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and defence secretary,
Robert Gates, all chimed in. They even mobilised all former living
US secretaries of state in joint opposition, but to no avail. It was
a measure of the lame-duck president’s chronic weakness.

Sentimentality and righteousness are never far from the surface of
American politics. "Despite President Bush twisting arms and making
deals, justice prevailed," said Democrat Brad Sherman of California,
playing to a gallery of elderly ethnic Armenians who attended the vote
and the wider Armenian diaspora. "If we hope to stop future genocides,
we need to admit to those horrific acts of the past."

One problem for Mr Sherman and his fellow Californian Democrat, the
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is that for the most part Turks admit
nothing of the kind – and deeply resent such vicarious apologising.

"Twenty-seven foolish Americans" said a headline in the Vatan
newspaper. "It is blatantly obvious that [Congress] does not have a
task or function to rewrite history," snarled the Ankara government.

Another problem is that the Democrats’ motives are up for scrutiny.

Turkish media suggest the struggle is less about justice and more about
votes and campaign contributions from the powerful Armenian-American
lobby, concentrated in the key 2008 election battlefields of
California, New Jersey and Michigan.

More pertinently perhaps, Turkish officials ask why, when the US
officially believes genocide is occurring right now in Sudan, it
is digging up disputed events nearly a century ago. This week saw
escalating killings in Darfur and warnings that a beefed-up UN force
will not deploy for many months yet. Campaigners say that is partly
because Congress has failed to honour US funding pledges.

Having lost the committee vote, and conscious that the full House
is expected to approve the bill before Thanksgiving, the Bush
administration is now pursuing damage-limitation. Turkey is being
reassured the Senate will not pass the bill into law and that in any
case, nothing is really changed by such posturing. The hope is that
Ankara will not "overreact".

Hope is the correct word, for Mr Bush is now reduced to a
fingers-crossed policy. In the next few days, an alienated Turkish
parliament will almost certainly vote to authorise punitive military
incursions into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish separatists who
find sanctuary there. Such action, going directly against US wishes,
has great potential to destabilise the region further.

And that may be just a beginning. As Mr Gates noted this week, Turkey
could cut off US military supply lines to Iraq and disrupt air force
operations. It could strengthen its de facto anti-Kurdish alliance
with Iran and withdraw support for Washington’s attempts to isolate
Tehran. In the worst case, congressional grandstanding could cost
the US its most powerful Muslim ally in the Middle East.

Such catastrophic rupture is unlikely – the two sides need each
other too much. But as the Turkish Daily News columnist Mehmet Ali
Birand noted today: "In spite of the non-binding nature [of the bill],
Turkey will still lose considerable prestige. Armenian allegations will
gain credibility. It will make it easier for Armenians to pressurise
European parliaments. Turkey will be hurt."

The hurt is deep, born of a sense of a friend’s betrayal. And
given that a poll earlier this year found that 81% of Turks already
disapproved of US policies, the multiplying, ramifying cost to American
prestige and leverage is set to rise. Even after Iraq and uncounted
"war on terror" disasters, imperial Washington still seems blind to
the difference between power and wisdom.