Author: Felekian Ara

The Associated Press
Oct 12 2007

White House Raps Lawmakers on Armenia
By DESMOND BUTLER and LOLITA C. BALDOR – 10 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Bush administration, chafing over a House
committee vote to label the deaths of Armenians a century ago as
genocide, warned Thursday that passage could put U.S. troops in Iraq
at risk, and said lawmakers’ time was better spent focused on
problems here at home.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice offered to give House members a classified briefing to spell out
what they called "national security interests" at stake.

And top military leaders – including Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff – made calls to Capitol Hill describing
potential repercussions of the congressional action.

In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gates and Rice warned that
a move by France’s national assembly last year to condemn the
Armenian deaths prompted Turkey to cancel contracts with the French
military.

"A similar reaction by the elected government of Turkey to a House
resolution could harm American troops in the field, constrain our
ability to supply our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and
significantly damage our efforts to promote reconciliation between
Armenia and Turkey at a key turning point in their relations," said
Rice and Gates in the letter reviewed by the Associated Press.

They urged Pelosi to refrain from allowing the resolution to reach
the House floor for a vote.

White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel, meanwhile,
reiterated that the vote by the House Foreign Affairs Committee
approving the resolution would be problematic for American efforts in
the Middle East.

"While the House is debating the Ottoman Empire, they are not moving
forward with appropriations bills," said Stanzel. "The House has not
appointed conferees, they aren’t coming to the table to discuss
children’s health care, and they haven’t permanently closed the
intelligence gap that will open up when the Protect America Act
expires."

The administration is trying to soothe Turkish anger over the vote.
The foreign affairs panel defied warnings by President Bush with its
27-21 vote Wednesday to send the nonbinding measure to the full House
for a vote. The administration will now try to pressure Democratic
leaders not to schedule a vote, though it is expected to pass.

In Ankara, the Turkish government wasted little time before reacting.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Bilman said Thursday that the
ambassador to Washington, Nabi Sensoy, was being recalled for
consultations. Also, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, was
invited to the Foreign Ministry and was told by Turkish officials of
their "unease" over the resolution.

Hours before the vote, Bush and his top two Cabinet members and other
senior officials made last-minute appeals to lawmakers to reject the
measure.

"Its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in
NATO and in the global war on terror," Bush said.

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul criticized the decision to move the
measure toward a vote in the House.

"Unfortunately, some politicians in the United States have once again
sacrificed important matters to petty domestic politics despite all
calls to common sense," said Gul, according to the state-run news
agency Anatolia. "This unacceptable decision by the committee, like
its predecessors, has no validity or respectability for the Turkish
nation."

In London Thursday, Gates told reporters the measure will damage
U.S.-Turkish relations at a time when U.S. forces in Iraq are relying
heavily on Turkish permission to use their airspace for U.S. air
cargo flights.

Pelosi, however, told reporters there never has been a good time for
the Armenian resolution, versions of which have been offered
repeatedly.

"I’ve been in Congress for 20 years, and for 20 years people have
been saying the same thing" about the timing being bad, she said.
Turkey was seen as having a strategic position in the Cold War as
well as the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the current Iraq war.

"Why do it now? Because there’s never a good time and all of us in
the Democratic leadership have supported" it, she said.

The House vote came as Turkish warplanes and helicopter gunships
attacked suspected positions of Kurdish rebels near Iraq on
Wednesday, a possible prelude to a cross-border operation that the
Bush administration has opposed. The United States, already
preoccupied with efforts to stabilize other areas of Iraq, believes
that Turkish intervention in the relatively peaceful north could
further destabilize the country.

The committee’s vote was a triumph for well-organized
Armenian-American interest groups who have lobbied Congress for
decades to pass a resolution.

Following the debate and vote, which was attended by aging Armenian
emigres who lived through the atrocities in what is now Turkey in
their youth, the interest groups said they would fight to ensure
approval by the full House.

"It is long past time for the U.S. government to acknowledge and
affirm this horrible chapter of history – the first genocide of the
20th century and a part of history that we must never forget," said
Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of
America.

TURKEY THREATENS REPERCUSSIONS FOR U.S.
By Christopher Torchia – Associated Press Writer

Houston Chronicle, TX
The Associated Press
Oct 12 2007

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey, which is a key supply route to U.S. troops in
Iraq, recalled its ambassador to Washington on Wednesday and warned
of serious repercussions if Congress labels the killing of Armenians
by Turks a century ago as genocide.

Ordered after a House committee endorsed the genocide measure, the
summons of the ambassador for consultations was a further sign of the
deteriorating relations between two longtime allies and the potential
for new turmoil in an already troubled region.

Egeman Bagis, an aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told
Turkish media that Turkey – a conduit for many of the supplies shipped
to American bases in both Iraq and Afghanistan – might have to "cut
logistical support to the U.S."

Analysts also have speculated the resolution could make Turkey more
inclined to send troops into northern Iraq to hunt Turkish Kurd rebels,
a move opposed by the U.S. because it would disrupt one of the few
relatively stable and peaceful Iraqi areas.

"There are steps that we will take," Turkey’s prime minister told
reporters, but without elaboration. It also wasn’t clear if he meant
his government would act immediately or wait to see what happens to
the resolution in Congress.

He declined to answer questions about whether Turkey might shut down
Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, a major cargo hub for U.S. and
allied military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey’s Mediterranean
port of Iskenderun is also used to ferry goods to American troops.

"You don’t talk about such things, you just do them," Erdogan said.

The measure before Congress is just a nonbinding resolution without
the force of law, but the debate has incensed Turkey’s government.

The relationship between the two NATO allies, whose troops fought
together in the Korean War in 1950-53, have stumbled in the past.

They hit a low in 2003, when Turkey’s parliament refused to allow
U.S. forces use their country as a staging ground for the invasion
that toppled Saddam Hussein.

But while the threat of repercussions against the U.S. is appealing
for many Turks, the country’s leaders know such a move could hurt
Turkey’s standing as a reliable ally of the West and its ambitions
to be a mediator on the international stage.

The Turks did suspend military ties with France last year after
parliament’s lower house approved a bill that would have made it
a crime to deny the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey amounted
to genocide. But Turkey has much more to lose from cutting ties to
the U.S.

The United States is one of its major business partners, with $11
billion in trade last year, and the U.S. defense industry provides
much of the Turkish military’s equipment.

Turkey’s ambassador in Washington, Nabi Sensoy, was ordered home
for discussions with the Turkish leadership about what is happening
in Congress, Foreign Minister spokesman Levent Bilman said. He said
Sensoy would go back after seven to 10 days.

"We are not withdrawing our ambassador. We have asked him to come to
Turkey for some consultations," Bilman said. "The ambassador was given
instructions to return and will come at his earliest convenience."

The Bush administration, which is lobbying strongly in hopes of
persuading Congress to reject the resolution, stressed the need for
good relations with Turkey.

"We look forward to his quick return and will continue to work to
maintain strong U.S.-Turkish relations," said Gordon Johndroe, a
spokesman for the National Security Council. "We remain opposed to
House Resolution 106 because of the grave harm it could bring to the
national security of the United States."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the measure is damaging relations
at a time when U.S. forces in Iraq rely heavily on Turkish permission
to use their airspace for cargo flights.

About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through
Turkey as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military
there. U.S. bases also get water and other supplies carried in overland
by Turkish truckers who cross into Iraq’s northern Kurdish region.

In addition, C-17 cargo planes fly military supplies to U.S. soldiers
in remote areas of Iraq from Incirlik, avoiding the use of Iraqi roads
vulnerable to bomb attacks. U.S. officials say the arrangement helps
reduce American casualties.

U.S.-Turkish ties already had been strained by Turkey’s complaint
the U.S. hasn’t done enough to stop Turkish Kurd rebels from using
bases in northern Iraq to stage attacks in southeastern Turkey,
a predominantly Kurdish region where tens of thousands have died in
fighting since 1984.

Turkish warplanes and helicopter gunships attacked suspected positions
of Kurdish rebels on the border this week and Turkey’s parliament
was expected to vote next week on a proposal to allow the military
to pursue a large-scale offensive in northern Iraq.

The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, was invited to the Foreign
Ministry, where officials conveyed their "unease" over the resolution
in Congress and asked the Bush administration do all in its power to
stop passage by the full House, a Foreign Ministry official said. He
spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make
press statements.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Turkey denies the
deaths constituted genocide, saying the killings didn’t come from
a coordinated campaign but rather during unrest accompanying the
Ottoman Empire’s collapse.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the resolution Wednesday
despite intense lobbying by Turkish officials and the opposition
from President Bush. The vote was a triumph for well-organized
Armenian-American interest groups that have lobbied Congress for
decades to pass a resolution.

The administration will now try to pressure Democratic leaders in
Congress not to schedule a vote, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
indicated they were committed to going forward.

"Why do it now? Because there’s never a good time and all of us in
the Democratic leadership have supported" it, she said.

Turkish officials said the House had no business to get involved in
writing history.

"It is not possible to accept such an accusation of a crime which
was never committed by the Turkish nation," Turkey’s government said
after the committee adopted the measure.

Associated Press writers C. Onur Ant in Istanbul and Suzan Fraser in
Ankara contributed to this report.

TURKEY CONDEMNS US CONGRESS RECOGNIZING ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Oct 11 2007

Turkey warned the US on Thursday that relations with its NATO ally
would be harmed if the US House Committee approves a resolution
to call the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide,
Reuters reported.

On 10 October, the House’s Foreign Affairs Committee voted 27-21
ignoring President Bush’s objections and approved the resolution
deeming it genocide in US foreign policy, according to RIA Novosti.

A government statement said the "irresponsible" resolution, voted
by the House’s Foreign Affairs Committee, was likely to endanger
bilateral relations. "We still hope that the House of Representatives
will have enough good sense not to take this resolution further,"
said the statement. To do so, it added, would jeopardise a strategic
partnership with an ally and friend and would be an ‘irresponsible
attitude’, it added. "It is unacceptable that the Turkish nation
should be accused of a crime that it never committed in its history."

Once the resolution was approved, the document was submitted to the
House of the Representatives for further consideration. Leaders of
the democratic majority promise to hold the vote on the resolution by
mid-November. The resolution is not compulsory for the US President
but it still has great symbolic and international importance.

Turkey having the second largest army among the NATO countries used
to warn Washington last year that passage of such a document would
negatively affect US-Turkey relationships, in particular regarding
military cooperation.

HOUSE PANEL OKAYS MEASURE ON ARMENIA GENOCIDE
Friena Guerrero

AHN News
Oct 11 2007

Washington, D.C. (AHN) – Despite warnings that it could strain
U.S-Turkey relations and harm U.S. goals in the Middle East, a House
panel Wednesday approved a measure that would recognize the World
War I killing of Armenians as "genocide."

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the measure in a 27 to 21
vote and barring any hitches, is expected to send the matter to the
full House for voting.

According to the non-binding measure, the U.S. would acknowledge the
‘genocide’ and take this into consideration in its foreign policy
towards Turkey.

While sympathizing with the Armenian’s plight, President Bush and
other administration officials earlier denounced the measure, noting
that Turkey , a key NATO ally which also serves as a crucial transit
point to Iraq, had been instrumental in the U.S. led war on terror.

Republican lawmakers raised concerns that the passage could endanger
U.S. troops abroad while Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice warned
that the House resolution could have "destabilizing" effects on
military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul meantime also earlier warned Bush that
"serious problems" could emerge if the bill is adopted.

Even as Turkey’s ambassador to Washington expressed dismay at the
vote, House Democrats seemed unwilling to budge on calls to reverse
their position and keep the measure from proceeding to a floor vote
and assured Turkey that the latest development is not a condemnation
of the current Turkish government.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he hoped that Turkey realized that
the vote was a denunciation of "another government, at another time"
and added that he expects the full House to vote on the measure
before they adjourn for the year. Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman
Tom Lantos meantime said he would introduce a resolution praising
U.S.-Turkish ties.

Armenians, who have been fighting for decades for a genocide
resolution, say 1.5 million of their kinsmen were massacred between
1915-17 in an organized campaign under the Ottoman Empire to force
them out of Anatolia (now Eastern Turkey).

Rejecting the genocide label, Turkey however claims that 250,000 to
500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife
when Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia
during the war.

789277

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson’s Response on the Adoption of the 106
Resolution

Francepress: What is your comment on the adoption of the 106 resolution
affirming Armenian Genocide by American House Committee on Foreign Affairs?

A: We welcome the adoption of the resolution affirming Armenian Genocide by
American House Committee on Foreign Affairs. That is an important step to
obtain justice.

US Officials Urge Defeat of Genocide Bill

By DESMOND BUTLER
The Associated Press

Wednesday, October 10, 2007; 10:42 AM

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration strongly urged Congress on
Wednesday to reject legislation that would declare the World War I-era
killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians a genocide.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates
issued a joint appeal at the White House just hours before the House
Foreign Affairs Committee was to vote on the measure that is opposed
by President Bush _ and which Turkey insists could severely damage
U.S. relations with a NATO ally that has been a major portal for U.S.
military operations in the region.

"The passage of this resolution at this time would be very problematic
for everything we are trying to do in the Middle East," Rice said.

Gates said that 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes
through Turkey, as does about a third of the fuel used by the U.S.
military in Iraq.

"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. He also said that 95
percent of the newly purchased Mine Resistant Ambush Protected
vehicles are flying through Turkey to get to Iraq.

Turkey made a final direct appeal to U.S. lawmakers to reject the
resolution. The U.S. vote comes as Turkey’s government was seeking
parliamentary approval for a cross-border military operation to chase
separatist Kurdish rebels who operate from bases in northern Iraq. The
move, opposed by the United States, could open a new war front in the
most stable part of 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.

A measure of the potential problem came in a warning the U.S. Embassy
in Ankara issued Tuesday to U.S. citizens in Turkey of "demonstrations
and other manifestations of anti-Americanism throughout Turkey" if the
bill passes the committee and gets to the House floor for a vote, the
embassy statement said.

On Wednesday, hundreds of Turks marched to U.S. missions in Turkey to
protest the bill. In Ankara, members of the left-wing Workers’ Party
chanted anti-American slogans in front of the embassy, the state-run
Anatolia news agency reported. A group of about 200 people staged a
similar protest in front of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, private
NTV television said.

Anatolia quoted a party official as saying that the "genocide claim
was an international, imperialist and a historical lie."

The basic dispute involves the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians
by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely
viewed by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, says the toll has
been inflated, and insists that those killed were victims of civil war
and unrest.

Armenian-American interest groups also have been rallying supporters
in the large diaspora community to pressure lawmakers to make sure
that a successful committee vote leads to consideration by the full
House.

The bill seemed to have enough support on the committee for passage,
but the majority was slight and some backers said they feared that
Turkish pressure would narrow it. Most Republicans, who are a minority
on the committee, were expected to vote against the resolution.

On Tuesday, Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly
of America, sought to shore up support in letters to the committee’s
chairman, Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., and its ranking Republican
member, Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

"We have a unique opportunity in this Congress, while there are still
survivors of the Armenian genocide living among us, to irrevocably and
unequivocally reaffirm this fact of history," he said.

The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, was
to give the opening invocation to the House’s session ahead of the
vote Wednesday.

Erdogan adviser Bagis said the resolution would make it hard for his
government to continue close cooperation with the United States and
resist calls from the public to go after the Kurdish rebels after
deadly attacks on soldiers in recent weeks. Turkey previously has said
it would prefer that the United States and its Iraqi Kurd allies in
northern Iraq crack down on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

The United States reiterated on Tuesday its warnings against an incursion.

___

On the Net:

House Foreign Affairs Committee:

(c) 2007 The Associated Press

Source: le/2007/10/10/AR2007101000203.html?sub=AR

TURKEY WARNS US ON GENOCIDE BILL

PRESS TV
Oct 7 2007
Iran

The head of Turkey’s Parliament has warned the US against passing a
bill that would declare the killing of Armenians a genocide.

AP reported on Sunday that Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan in a
letter to the United States House speaker said that the move would
harm bilateral ties.

In his letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he said that it might
take decades to heal the negative effects of the bill if it passes.

Toptan who is elected by the legislative body to chair parliamentary
sessions, is considered neutral toward all political parties.

The genocide bill declares the killings of Armenians between 1915
and 1917 a genocide, though it would have no binding effect on the
US foreign policy.

The US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee is expected
to consider the bill this week.

Toptan’s letter said the passing of the bill would be acknowledged
by Armenians as a confirmation of their view of the historical dispute.

"Then, it will be difficult to control the dynamics triggered by
Turkish public reaction," it said.

SPEAKER OF THE ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT: THERE IS NO STATE IN EUROPE WHERE HUMAN RIGHTS WERE BROKEN AT LEAST ONCE

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 5 2007

ArmInfo. ‘There is no state in Europe where human rights where
broken at least once’, – speaker of the Armenian parliament Tigran
Torosyan said at the two-day international conference ‘The role of
the Constitutional Court and Human Rights Defender in human rights
protection issues’ opened in Yerevan today.

The conference is organized by the joint efforts of Constitutional
Court of Armenia, Armenian Ombudsman office and the European Commission
‘Democracy via law’. Representatives of constitutional courts of more
than 30 European states are taking part in the conference. President
of the European Court on Human rights Jean-Paul Costa and Secretary
General of Venice Commission of the Council of Europe Gianni Buquicchio
made a greeting speech at the conference.

Tigran Torosyan emphasized that after making amendments to the Armenian
Constitution ordinary citizens of Armenia gained an opportunity to
apply to the Constitutional Court. Just close parallel activity of
the three structures – constitutional court, parliament and ombudsman
office can effectively resolve the problem of ensuring and human
rights protection, Torosyan said.

To note, a scandal happened at the beginning of the conference,
as its organizers did not take the number of the participants into
account, as a result of which not only journalists but also deputy
Russian ambassador to Armenia could not get earphones and listen to
translations. The latter was loudly expressing his indignation until
getting earphones. As for the journalists, the majority of them relied
on their knowledge of foreign languages.

MINISTER OF CULTURE SUMMARIZED HER 100-DAY ACTIVITY
By Marieta Makarian

AZG Armenian Daily
04/10/2007

On October 2, RA Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosian summarized her
100-day activities in the new government and presented the forthcoming
programs.

"At last we could accomplish the monitoring program of the culture
field. Our coming issues will be directed to it. Firstly, it’s the
personnel policy, which is the most serious issue in the sphere of
culture. And the second issue is – to allocate the cultural life from
the capital to the provinces", announced the Minister.

Touching upon the issue of the cultural programs in the provinces she
mentioned that from the state budget of 2008 a special appropriation
is planned to carry out serious cultural works in the provinces.

Hasmik Poghosian informed that 8 wall-paintings of Minas Avetisayan
would be restored.

In autumn, cultural days will be held in Belarus, China, Italy,
and exhibitions of fine arts – in Bulgaria and United Arab Emirates.

Next year the Ministry of Culture will get 6 billion drams of
appropriation from the state budget, and also half billion drams –
to reconstruct 13 libraries in Yerevan and provinces.

Answering the questions of the journalists the Minister mentioned that
in 2008 it’s planned an additional appropriation for the All-Armenian
Event "One nation, one culture", and the format of it will be revised.

As good news, the Minister informed that in 2008 Public TV would get
an appropriation for shooting a performance once a month.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD SERIOUSLY ENGAGE IN KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.10.2007 13:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The negotiations are held by the governments of
Armenia and Azerbaijan and by the Presidents of the two states. This
format has no alternative," said Mr Dennis Sammut, Executive Director
of LINKS and Director of the Political Strand of the Consortium
Initiative.

There is time and possibility to encourage the process, according
to him.

"I think the role of parliamentarians is very important, since they
also should engage in the talks and be in the know. Azeri and Armenian
parliamentarians should promote talks held by the leadership. Besides,
representatives of NGOs and intelligentsia can also establish
contacts," he said.

"Only 5 per cent of this potential is used, the most serious reason
for it being the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The parties to conflict
should work harder while the international community should take a
more serious stand and contribute to resolution of the conflict. That’s
what we are trying to do. Our activities cover not only Azerbaijan and
Armenia but also UK and Belgium and other states in order to introduce
the Karabakh problem into the international agenda," Mr Sammut said,
Day.az reports.