Author: Chavushian

CONGRESSIONAL FORAYS INTO FOREIGN POLICY…

Registan.net, WA
Oct 12 2007

…are almost uniformly idiotic. Case in point is the non-binding
House resolution recognizing the Ottoman-era massacres of Armenians
as genocide. As Deniz Ozemir notes at Passport, Turkey has history
that it needs to confront, but for the House of Representatives
to play politics with history is not the way to get Turkey to do
so. This WaPo editorial rightly calls the resolution that the Foreign
Affairs Committee passed by a vote of 27-21 "worse than irrelevant"
(via abu muqawama). If only it were simply the type of hollow gesture
at which members of Congress so greatly excel at making…

Turkey is very pissed, is well-positioned to put the hurt to US
interests over the vote, and asJoshua Kucera reports at EurasiaNet,
determined to compel the US to do something to calm its anger.

"The only remedy of yesterday’s mistake is concrete cooperation in
the fight against the PKK," said Egemen Bagis, an MP and foreign
policy advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "I
don’t know of any other option that can somehow soften the hearts of
72 million Turks."

"Some members of the US Congress yesterday wanted to play hardball,"
he continued. "I can assure you that Turkey can play hardball. Our
experience of having a state is 1,000 years old. The ball is in your
court, and you have to show us that Turkey matters. Show us on the
PKK, show us on bringing this to the floor or not bringing this to
the floor, or other issues."

I hope the mess they’ve cause is worth the votes and campaign donations
in the 2008 elections…

07/10/11/congressional-forays-into-foreign-policy/

REJECT ARMENIAN ‘GENOCIDE’ RESOLUTION: BUSH

CTV.ca, Canada
/CTVNews/20071010/genocide_071010/20071010?hub=Top Stories
Oct 10 2007

The White House is urging Congress to reject legislation that would
classify the First World War-era killings of Armenians as genocide.

"This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass
killings," U.S. President George Bush told reporters Wednesday.

The comments follow a meeting Bush held with Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Rice and Gates issued a joint appeal earlier Wednesday, hours before
the House Foreign Affairs Committee was to vote on the issue.

"This is not to ignore what was a really terrible situation and we
recognize the feelings of those who want to express their concern
and their disdain for what happened many years ago," Rice said.

"But the passage of this resolution at this time would indeed be
very problematic for everything we are trying to do in the Middle
East because we are very dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally
to help with our efforts," she said.

The basic dispute surrounds the 1915 massacres of up to 1.5 million
Armenians by Ottoman Turks — widely viewed by scholars as the first
genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey denies that the event was genocide, claiming the toll has been
inflated and that the deaths were the result of civil war and unrest.

Turkish officials are warning that the move could damage relations
between the two countries. The U.S. military uses Turkey, a NATO ally,
as a major portal for operations in Iraq.

"I have been trying to warn the (U.S.) lawmakers not to make a historic
mistake," said Egemen Bagis, a close foreign policy adviser to Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Seventy per cent of U.S. air cargo destined for Iraq flows through
Turkey as does about a third of fuel used by the military in Iraq,
Gates said Wednesday.

"Access to air fields and to the roads and so on in Turkey would very
much be put at risk if this resolution passes and Turkey reacts as
strongly as we believe they will," Gates said.

Gates also said that 95 per cent of the new Mine Resistant Ambush
Protected vehicles are flying through Turkey to get to Iraq.

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara warned U.S. citizens in Turkey Wednesday of
"demonstrations and other manifestations of anti-Americanism" if the
bill is approved.

If the House Foreign Affairs Committee passes the legislation, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi could then decide to bring it to a vote before
the full House of Representatives.

Many Democrats in the Democrat-controlled Congress support the
resolution.

Meanwhile, reports emerged Wednesday that Turkey began shelling
suspected Kurdish rebel camps in Northern Iraq.

The U.S. opposes the action, fearing a new war front in the most
stable part of the country.

The Turkish government is currently seeking parliamentary approval
to conduct a cross-border military operation in the region.

SECURITY GUARDS FIRED RANDOMLY: IRAQ OFFICIAL
By Aseel Kami

Reuters, UK
px?type=topNews&storyID=2007-10-10T142211Z_01_ L05542683_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-COL.XML
Oct 10 2007

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi authorities on Wednesday accused guards
working for a foreign security company of firing randomly when they
killed two women in the latest incident involving private security
contractors that has outraged Iraqis.

Family members held a funeral service for the two women after the
shooting on Tuesday at a Baghdad intersection involving guards working
for Australian-run, Dubai-based Unity Resources Group.

Unity Resources Group (URG) said in a statement on its Web site that
it deeply regretted the incident, in which it said a car had failed
to stop despite repeated warnings.

It has not yet answered phone calls or emails to its offices in
Baghdad and Dubai.

Baghdad security spokesman Brigadier-General Qassim Moussawi said the
women were at an intersection in Baghdad’s Karrada district when four
four-wheel-drive vehicles drove up in convoy.

"It opened fire randomly, targeting an Oldsmobile vehicle being driven
by a woman," Moussawi told Reuters.

URG’s statement said its security team was approached at speed by a
vehicle which did not stop despite warnings that included hand signals,
signal flares and a warning shot. A witness said the guards opened
fire when the car edged forward.

The bodies of the two women, members of Iraq’s small Armenian Christian
sect, were taken in simple wooden coffins to an Armenian church in
central Baghdad on Wednesday.

"She was a housewife," the brother of one of the victims, who gave
his name only as Albeer, told Reuters Television.

In more violence in northern Iraq, six people were killed in a car
bomb attack on a convoy carrying the security directorate chief for
Salahuddin province, security officials said.

Provincial security chief Colonel Jassim Hussein Mohammed was not hurt
in the attack in the provincial capital Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles),
north of Baghdad, but one of his bodyguards was among those killed
and another two were wounded.

The attack came a day after two suicide car bombs targeting a police
chief and a tribal leader killed 22 people in Baiji.

Al Qaeda has vowed to ramp up its attacks during the holy Muslim month
of Ramadan, which ends at the weekend, especially targeting security
officials and Sunni Arab tribal leaders who have joined U.S.

forces to fight the Sunni Islamist group.

The Baiji bombings were part of an upsurge of violence across Iraq in
which at least 56 people died and about 120 were wounded on Tuesday,
one of the bloodiest days of Ramadan.

Moussawi also announced an indefinite ban on parking cars on main
streets and intersections in Baghdad in a bid to thwart potential
car bomb attacks in the final days of Ramadan.

PRIVATE ARMIES

Many Iraqis see private security companies as little more than private
armies which act with impunity and are still angry over a September 16
shooting involving U.S. firm Blackwater in which 17 people were killed.

Moussawi said Iraqi police and military were investigating the
shooting. URG has worked in Iraq since 2004 and its security escorts
typically include Iraqi guards with foreign team leaders.

The Blackwater shooting brought private security contractors under
the spotlight, with the incident now the subject of at least four
investigations by Iraqi and U.S. officials.

Between 25,000 and 48,000 private security guards work in Iraq under
a 2004 law, drawn up while Iraq was still under U.S. administration,
which gives them immunity from Iraqi law.

"People run away from them, they are afraid to cross the street in
front of them," a Baghdad resident, who gave his name only as Qais,
told Reuters Television.

The Iraqi government has accused Blackwater of "deliberately killing"
the 17 Iraqis in last month’s shooting in west Baghdad. A government
source has said the government wants Blackwater to pay $8 million
compensation to each victim’s family.

Blackwater, which employs about 1,000 people in Iraq and guards the
U.S. embassy, says its guards responded lawfully to a threat against a
convoy. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has ordered tighter
controls on Blackwater. (Additional reporting by Yasser Faisal
in Baghdad)

BUSH ADMINISTRATION LOBBYING THE HOUSE NOT TO PASS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

RTT News, NY
date=10/10/2007&item=12
Oct 10 2007

With the House Foreign Affairs Committee preparing to vote on a
resolution declaring the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
in Turkey during World War I to be genocide, the Bush administration
lobbied heavily against passing of the bill, saying it would hurt
relations with a strategically important U.S. ally.

Urging U.S. legislators not to pass the resolution, President Bush
said on Wednesday "This resolution is not the right response to these
historic mass killings."

Addressing reporters outside the White House, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said passage of the resolution would be very
problematic for U.S. policy in the Middle East, because the U.S. is
very much dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally to help with
its efforts.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the government is very much
concerned about the resolution, because good relations with Turkey
are vital, as 70 percent of the air cargo intended for and 30 percent
of the fuel consumed by the U.S. forces in Iraq flies through Turkey,
which attacked Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq on Wednesday

The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, refers to
"the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians
as genocide." With enough support in the full House, the resolution
is expected to pass, but the bill will still not be binding as Bush
staunchly opposes the resolution.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul warned in a letter to
President Bush that bilateral ties would suffer if Congress passes
the genocide bill.

Denmark Pushes For Political Dialogue With Taliban Guerillas []

10/10/2007 7:25:35 AM Six years after the US-led invasion of
Afghanistan, Denmark has backed the idea of opening a dialogue with
the Taliban guerrillas fighting NATO troops in the war-ravaged country.

Defense Minister Soeren Gade said in a live television interview
that if a dialogue could save lives to have the Taliban involved in
the political process, it should be explored but only on a condition
that the militant group lay down their arms and desist from attacking
civilians and NATO forces.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been urging Taliban militants to
meet the government for peace talks while the UN has also been saying
that a rising number of Taliban fighters also want peace.

However, the Taliban and the factional warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,
leader of the militant group Hezb-i-Islami, have spurned peace offers
insisting that international troops must first leave the country.

ARMENIAN ALL-ROUNDER WINS GOLD MEDAL

ARMENPRESS
Oct 10, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 10, ARMENPRESS: An Armenian all-rounder, Vladimir
Mnatsakanian, 70 kg, has won the champion’s title at the world
championship in Bulgaria.

Another Armenian athlete, David Nersesian, 80 kg, has won the bronze
medal. Overall six Armenian all-rounders competed for medals in
Bulgaria.

PLAYING POLITICS WITH HISTORY IS A DANGEROUS GAME

Foreign Policy

Oct 9 2007

This week, when the Armenian Genocide Resolution comes in front of
the House Foreign Affairs Committee, members will be pulling out
their primary sources and Ottoman history books to finally decide
what happened between Armenians and Turks over 90 years ago. Why now?

Rep. Adam Schiff, a co-sponsor of the bill, explained his motives
this way:

How can we take effective action against the genocide in Darfur if
we lack the will to condemn genocide whenever and wherever it occurs?

Tying this resolution to the United States’ half-hearted response to
the atrocities in Darfur is a stretch. This is not to say that the
Turkish government doesn’t need to confront its historical amnesia.

The legal proceedings against authors Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak
for "insulting Turkishness" and the recent murder of Armenian editor
Hrant Dink show that the country has a lot of work to do.

But the truth is, this resolution is not the way to go about it. It
will only strengthen hardline Turkish nationalists and strain already
tenuous relations between the United States and one of its most
crucial allies in the Middle East, Turkey. If U.S. lawmakers are
really adamant about assigning blame for the atrocities committed
towards the Armenians in 1915 (estimates put the death toll at 1.5
million), I suggest they take a closer look at the inaction of their
own predecessors. Or perhaps pick up a copy of Samantha Power’s A
Problem From Hell to get an extensive account of congressional apathy
towards genocide throughout the 20th century. But when it comes to
resolutions like this one, they should leave history to the historians.

TURKEY HAS TO REVIEW ITS ATTITUDE
Harutyun Gevorgyan

Hayots Ashkharh Daily
Oct 9 2007
Armenia

Interview with Person in Charge for ARFD Bureau of Hay Dat and
Political Issues Kiro Manoyan

"Mr. Manoyan what is the situation in the US House of Representatives
on the eve of the discussion of Resolution # 106 on the Recognition
of Armenian Genocide?"

" At present the majority of the House of Representatives, 226 members,
support the Resolution that reconfirms the fact of the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide. To discuss and to adopt it, the Resolution must
be submitted to the discussion of the Senate Plenary Session. Before
that US House of Foreign Affairs Committee must discuss and pass
Resolution # 106. This discussion will be held on October 10.

Both Turkey and the White House make efforts to kill the adoption of
the Resolution. Only during the recent years, Turkish President, Head
of the General Headquarter of the armed forces, the country’s Prime
Minister and several MP delegates paid official visits to Washington.

Prime Minister Erdoghan had meetings with the Jewish organizations
in the USA. Some days back he had a telephone conversation with the
US President.

The passions around the Resolution reconfirming Armenian Genocide
still hit up and pressure on the House of Representatives and the
members is strengthening. The visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister
testifies to this. In Tel Aviv, Ali Babajan particularly mentioned
that, in case of the adoption of the resolution, Turkish government
wouldn’t be able to restrain social rebellion. He even threatened
that it will have bad impact on the Jewish community in Turkey.

All this is mainly aimed at killing the adoption of Resolution #
106. The White House has also strengthened its pressure on the adoption
of the resolution. The letter of the eight ex US State Secretaries
is one of the manifestations of the before mentioned.

Meanwhile it is worth mentioning that by the leadership of the
American National Committee of Armenians, American-Armenian community
has started a tense activity. This activity is aimed at making the
Resolution subject to adoption, not only in the US House of Foreign
Affairs Committee, but also in the Plenary Session of the House of
Representatives. The Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy
Palosy is the principal, if not the only role-player in this issue.

Turkish threats are not always perceived in the right way in the USA.

Similar threats have been heard about the countries that have already
recognized Armenian Genocide and are going to. " "And what is the
attitude of the US Jewish organization towards Resolution # 106,
what impact can they have?"

"One of the advantages of the Resolution is that it has 226
co-authors. They are not only the majority of the House of
Representatives, but also representatives from different parties
– Republican and Democratic. Around fifty community and social
organizations support the adoption of the resolution, around ten
of which are Jewish organizations. For now 32 Senators are ready to
vote for the adoption of the Resolution, including the Presidential
candidate Hilary Clinton who has the highest 53% rating .

However part of the Jewish Community having a powerful lobbing
in the USA is for the adoption of Resolution # 106 another part is
against. On this occasion Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babajan insisted
that Israel makes pressure on the Jewish Community of America. Thus
the Jewish Community in America has appeared in a very unpleasant
situation, because Jewish Lobby in America has always tried to make
an impression that they have never depended on Tel Aviv or any other
capital city. Whereas at the moment official Ankara is trying to
insist on the contrary, trying to dictate to the Jewish Community
what they should do.

At the moment Jewish Community in America is discussing the issue,
" to what extent is it moral to support Turkey in the recognition
of Armenian Genocide, in case when they themselves have suffered
from genocide."

"Where the efforts of American Armenian organizations successful this
time, to what extent are our positions strong?"

"Especially during the recent years, Armenian Community, Armenian
Organizations in the USA, due to Hay Dat Committee displayed that they
are really united and they can’t be overlooked by the US political
circles. This is the principal pledge of success.

The regular presidential and parliamentary elections are in store
for the USA and the relations with Armenian community will be
considered. This means besides making fair decision American political
circles have certain biases as well.

Had the adoption of the Resolution not been really important, Turkey
wouldn’t be in such panic. These days, publications have appeared in
Turkish press, with appeals to take steps against Armenia.

I’m sure, if Turkey takes similar steps, against Armenia, Armenian
Community in Turkey and the USA, it will suffer damages rather than
benefit. Eventually Turkey will understand that it can’t continue its
denial policy. In the near future Turkey will have to make amendments
in its hostile policy against Armenia.

In my view Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan’s letter
addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Palosy
was rather informative. But Armenian diplomacy must become livelier,
repeat its official attitude on every occasion, and immediately refute
any misinformation, heard from Turkey.

Last update – 11:25 09/10/2007

PM tells Turkish FM that Golan will not be on agenda at summit

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

The fate of the Golan Heights will not be raised at the Annapolis
peace summit, Prime Minister Olmert said Monday during a meeting with
the Turkish foreign minister, Ali Babacan.

Olmert told the visiting foreign minister that only Palestinian issues
will be on the agenda at the peace summit next month.

When Babacan said Turkey believes that the summit should include
Israeli-Syrian negotiations as well, Olmert said: "I am happy with
Syria’s invitation to the summit, but only if it wants to be involved
in our negotiations with the Palestinians. It would be wrong to
include other issues."

Olmert and Babacan also discussed Syrian-Iranian relations and Syria’s
involvement in Lebanon. "Syria is ready for dialogue and should not be
isolated," the Turkish minister told Olmert. "There must be a way to
negotiate with them. The only reason why Syria is allied with Iran is
the international boycott that had been imposed on it. The two
countries have nothing else in common," he continued.

Olmert did not accept Babacan’s position and said that dialogue with
Syria can only take place when it stops supporting terror. He
acerbically asked the foreign minister, "If Syria’s isolation is
lifted, will it stop assassinating Lebanese members of parliament?"

Babacan replied that there is no evidence that Syria is behind the
assassinations.

Another point of divergence in the meeting was the politicians’
different approach to Hamas. The Turkish minister told Olmert that his
country believes national unity should be maintained in the
Palestinian Authority and that a split between Gaza and the West Bank,
as well as between the different Palestinian factions, should be
avoided.

Olmert replied that "national unity has universal importance, but one
does not negotiate with terror organizations." Olmert also said that
even Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is reluctant to
negotiate with Hamas.

"Ask Abbas," Olmert said, "even he says Hamas is an enemy that has
killed more Fatah men than Israel. We deem negotiation with Hamas
unacceptable. We will negotiate with Hamas only when it accepts the
conditions outlined by the international community, recognizes Israel
and gives up terror."

Some of Olmert and Babacan’s meeting took place behind closed doors,
and according to a Turkish source the foreign minister may have
mentioned the Israel Air Force’s violation of Turkish airspace en
route to the attack in Syria last month.

Babacan also asked Olmert to exert his leverage in the U.S. and
especially in Congress to foil a bill to label the Armenian massacre
during the First World War a genocide.

Source: sw=Armenian&itemNo=910979

US relations with Turkey at risk

By Daniel Dombey in Washington

Published: October 7 2007 21:29 | Last updated: October 7 2007 21:29

The Bush administration has warned that Washington’s relations with
Turkey could be endangered and US troops in Iraq put at risk because
of congressional legislation that denounces the mass killings of
Armenians more than 80 years ago as genocide.

The bill, which will be put to the House of Representatives foreign
affairs committee on Wednesday, enjoys majority support and comes at a
time when ties between Washington and Ankara are under severe strain.

Turkey has launched a concerted effort to prevent passage of the bill,
warning of serious consequences for bilateral relations. Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, called President George W. Bush on
Friday, and a delegation of Turkish MPs is in Washington to muster
support against the resolution.

Dan Fried, the state department’s top Europe official, said last week:
"We think it would do grave harm both to US-Turkish relations and to
US interests. It would hurt our forces deployed in Iraq, which rely on
passage through Turkey?.?.?.?We have to be mindful of how much we
depend and how much our troops and the Iraqi economy depend on
shipments from and through Turkey."

Eight former US secretaries of state ` including Colin Powell, Henry
Kissinger and Madeleine Albright ` have written to Nancy Pelosi, the
speaker of the House of Representatives, to ask her to prevent a vote
on the issue.

The bill has 226 co-sponsors. It calls on Mr Bush "to accurately
characterise the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5m
Armenians as genocide". The massacres were carried out by Ottoman
troops beginning in 1915, before the creation of the republic of
Turkey. Turkey rejects characterisation of the deaths as genocide and
takes diplomatic and other measures against countries that adopt such
a stance.

Last year Ankara restricted military co-operation with France after
the French national assembly passed a bill that would criminalise
denial of the Armenian genocide. Turkey has not suggested it would
retaliate against the US if the bill is approved. But some
commentators suggest that, in extremis, Ankara could restrict US
access to Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, which the US uses to
supply its military forces throughout the Middle East.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

Source: 0000779fd2ac.html

EDUARD ATANESIAN APPOINTED AS NKR DEPUTY FM

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Oct 5 2007

According to the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic President Bako Sahakian’s
enactment Masis Mailian has been relieved of the post of NKR Deputy FM.

Eduard Atanesian has been appointed as NKR Deputy FM. To note, Eduard
Atanesian was the First Aid to NKR President. Today Eduard Atanesian
was presented to NKR MFA staff, NKR President’s Press Office reports.