Author: Jagharian Tania

TURKISH GOVERNMENT CONDEMNS U.S. FOR GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

RIA Novosti
Oct 15 2007
Russia

ANKARA, October 15 (RIA Novosti) – Turkey has called the resolution
adopted by a House of Representatives committee classing the 1915
massacre of Armenians as genocide a move that spoils relations between
the two countries.

"The most unjust action one nation can do to another is to accuse it
of committing genocide. This action cannot be explained as hailing
from the friendship and partnership typical of bilateral relations
(between Turkey and the U.S.)," Cemil Cicek, a Turkish government
spokesman said on Monday.

Turkey is currently considering the suspension of military cooperation
with the U.S. over the genocide ruling.

The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee passed
the document on Wednesday despite opposition from President Bush.

Turkey is a key NATO ally and a crucial U.S. partner in operations
in Iraq.

The Turkish NTV television channel said Turkey’s final reaction to the
document would be announced after discussions in parliament scheduled
for early next week.

NTV said Turkey might restrict U.S. use of a joint air base in
Incirlik, close off its air space to U.S. warplanes, and ban Armenian
aircraft from flying over its territory. The majority of supplies
for U.S. troops in Iraq, including fuel and military hardware, pass
through Turkey.

The U.S. resolution has triggered an angry response from Ankara, which
insists that the deaths and deportations of Armenians at the end of
the Ottoman period were caused by civil war rather than deliberate
genocide. However, the majority of Western academics qualify the
massacre as genocide.

The Turkish government released a statement on Wednesday condemning
the move by the House of Representatives, saying that Ankara could
not admit a crime the Turkish people never committed.

The press service of Turkish President Abdullah Gul quoted him as
saying that the U.S. resolution was "petty domestic politics rejecting
calls to common sense."

Ankara previously froze military cooperation with France after its
parliamentarians passed a similar resolution.

PATRIARCH MESROB II UNDERSCORES OPPOSITION TO US ARMENIAN BILL

Hurriyet, Turkey
Oct 15 2007

The spiritual leader of Armenians living in Turkey, Patriarch Mesrob
Mutafian, has asserted that he is against the Armenian bill accepted
last week by the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign
Affairs.

Speaking in Antalya, Patriarch Mesrob II noted "I have always asked
that the ethnically Armenian Turkish citizens stay out of this
matter. This is a bill which is domestic political material within
the US, and one which is constantly brought to the agenda. It has
nothing to do with the ethnically Armenian Turkish citizens living
in Turkey. We are all against this bill."

National Public Radio (NPR)
October 13, 2007 Saturday
SHOW: Weekend Edition Saturday 1:00 PM EST

Peace Prize, Genocide Resolution

ANCHORS: SCOTT SIMON

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I’m Scott Simon.

This week, the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to former Vice
President Al Gore for his work on global climate change. And the
House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a resolution calling the
1915 killing of Armenians by Turks a genocide.

NPR’s senior analyst Dan Schorr joins us.

Dan, hello. Thanks for being with us.

DANIEL SCHORR: Hi, Scott. My pleasure.

SIMON: And let’s start with Mr. Gore.

SCHORR: Yes.

SIMON: He shares this award with the United Nations’
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. They cited him as the
individual who is in the most to promote greater understanding of
climate change.

SCHORR: Right.

SIMON: He joins other Americans who have won the award including
Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Jane Adams and Henry Kissinger.
Now, we have to ask the political question…

SCHORR: Of course.

SIMON: …of the weekend, does this award make it more likely that
he’ll run for president or that there will be a public demand for him
to do?

SCHORR: Well, you may have to ask but I don’t think I have to answer
without being wrong on these things before. But let me say my
impression is he has not indicated any intention of getting into this
race, and the way it now looks, he could hardly get into the race
without threatening the frontrunner or the next frontrunner. And if I
were he, I would say a good Democrat would not want to upset this
thing right now and he can probably accomplish more by getting the
various Democratic candidates to accept his version of what a climate
change policy should be and talk to whoever is the nominee.

SIMON: Now, deadlocked conventions are usually figured to be a thing
of the past because you win for several election cycles now,
nominations have been won or lost in the primaries.

SCHORR: Right.

SIMON: But at the moment, the delegate votes from two large states,
Michigan and Florida…

SCHORR: Right.

SIMON: …the Democratic Party says because they’ve moved up their
primaries that they will not be counted. Does that introduce the
possibility that there may not be, mathematically, a majority that
one candidate is able to win in the primary?

SCHORR: Well, if you’re suggesting the possibility of a deadlocked
convention that we haven’t had that for a very long time. When the
convention is deadlocked, anything can happen. At that point, people
look around on how we can we get out of this. But I think it’s not
really an odds-on chance.

SIMON: In the Republican Party, Fred Thompson, former senator from
Tennessee, made his first appearance in debates without the
Republican candidates. His standing in the polls had been impressive,
mostly because he hadn’t been campaigning to get it.

SCHORR: Right.

SIMON: Now, he’s begun. is he as popular as a candidate as he was
when he wasn’t kind of standing outside that ground?

SCHORR: Well, his test really was not to do anything wrong. You can
say he didn’t do anything wrong. Chris Matthews sort of popped the
question at him, who’s the prime minister of Canada? He said, Hopper;
he had that right. And that was probably the biggest hurdle he had to
get over. From there on, he gave rather traditional kind of
Republican policy statements.

But what I must say that what he really has to overcome, people still
remember that when he was the Republican counsel to the Senate
Watergate Committee, Nixon said of him, he’s dumb as hell but he’s
friendly. Well, he’s going to have to point out now that he’s
friendly and not dumb as hell, and that is what he has to do.

SIMON: I have to ask a question. What does it say about the United
States when asking someone running for president who the prime
minister of Canada is, is this considered a trick question?

SCHORR: Indeed. It’s meant to catch you unawares and attitudes toward
Canada as such a lot of people don’t know who the prime minister is,
but Thompson, luckily for him, is not one of those.

SIMON: This week, House committee passed a resolution recognizing the
killing of 1.5 million Armenians by Turks…

SCHORR: Yes.

SIMON: …as genocide.

SCHORR: Yes.

SIMON: Why is this resolution brought up now?

SCHORR: Well, the mass killing of Armenians was back in 1915 in the
Ottoman Empire. And why it is that the present Turkish government has
to answer for it, then you have to understand American politics.
Armenians everywhere want to have it known that that was genocide.

Now, as it happens, there are a lot of Armenian Americans in
California, where the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, comes from
and a couple of other Democrats in the House. Fine, that you can make
some progress politically by calling it a genocide.

It is, I must, a rather unfortunate thing but what happens now is
when America desperately needs Turkey for a whole group of things and
is trying to keep Turkey from invading Iraq to fight the Kurds that
at this moment, they’ve gotten them very, very angry. It’s not very
helpful to foreign policy whatever it does for Democratic politics.

SIMON: Secretary of State Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates
have been in Moscow this week. They were trying to convince Russia to
drop its opposition to U.S. plans to put a missile defense shield in
Europe. President Putin was notably truculent at a press conference.

SCHORR: And he remains truculent and not only about the fact the U.S.
wants to have a missile defense shield but wants to put elements of
the missile defense shield kind of looking down the throat of Russia
– in the Czech Republic and in Poland. And Putin has said, you know,
you can’t do that. And all that the U.S. has tried to do to convince
him it’s not meant against him do not convince him. And Russia is
another country that is needed at this point if only to try to work
with Iran and try to do something about the Iranian nuclear program.
If you need friends, we have certainly found a way of antagonizing
people whom the United States surely desperately needs.

SIMON: Thanks very much, Dan Schorr.

SCHORR: Sure.

Charlotte Observer, NC
Oct 13 2007

Armenian leader lauds churches’ cooperation

Worldwide head of church says House vote relieves `pain of people’

RICHARD MASCHAL

An issue that has caused rejoicing but also outrage and strained
American diplomacy surfaced at a Charlotte luncheon Friday when about
80 religious and civic leaders shared salad, fish and pecan pie and
listened to words about brotherhood.

On a U.S. tour, His Holiness Karekin II, the religious leader of
Armenians worldwide, was the guest of honor at the Duke Mansion. He
spoke of America’s tradition of religious diversity and praised
Charlotte churches for working together.

After the meal, he touched on an event that has roiled American
relations with Turkey: the vote Wednesday by the House Foreign
Affairs Committee recognizing the killing of an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians during World War I as genocide.

The vote was strongly opposed by Turkey, a key NATO ally that has
supported U.S. efforts in Iraq. Turkey rejects the description of
genocide and says the deaths were due to war and civil unrest.

Speaking through an interpreter, Karekin said the House vote righted
an injustice and helped relieve the "pain (Armenian) people have in
their hearts" after more than 90 years when the killings by the
Ottoman Turks were often denied.

It brings, he said, "consolation to the souls of the victims and the
survivors."

He added that the vote was important not just for Armenians but for
all peoples, to ensure such a tragedy never again happens. He
mentioned the killings in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Reaction in Turkey, which did not exist as a country in 1915-17, has
included angry marches and the recalling of the Turkish ambassador
from Washington.

Addressing that reaction, Karekin said he wished the vote on the
resolution instead would "free the (Turkish) people from these heavy
emotions" and make their lives more abundant.

On a tour of Armenian churches in the United States, Karekin, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, was scheduled to attend a
service Friday night at St. Sarkis Armenian Church on Park Road,
serving about 350 people in Charlotte.

The luncheon was sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte.
Karekin presented an Armenian cross to Catholic Bishop Peter Jugis,
putting it around his neck and kissing his cheeks.

Karekin praised America as a nation where people from many traditions
live together.

A bouquet of red and white flowers decorated the table where he ate.
As he stood at a lectern to speak, Karekin, after apologizing for his
English, used the bouquet as a metaphor.

"The different churches are like these flowers," he said, noting the
joining of many flowers made the bouquet more beautiful and sweet
smelling.

Addressing an audience that included CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman,
City Councilwoman Nancy Carter and First United Presbyterian Church
pastor Gregory Busby, Karekin praised Thomas Jefferson and his
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, guaranteeing free expression.

Holding a bishop’s staff, his gold cross glinting in the light of
television cameras, Karekin smiled and said, "I don’t know if I am
expressing my thoughts understandably to you."

The audience erupted with applause.

7140.html

PRESS TV, Iran
Oct 13 2007

Turkish soldier wounded by PKK
Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:55:00

A Turkish soldier has reportedly been wounded after PKK guerillas
opened fire from Northern Iraq on a military control point in Turkey.

PKK guerillas opened fire with mortar and heavy machine guns while
Turkish soldiers responded from the village in Sirnak province, on
the Iraqi border with Turkey, the Turkish Dogan News Agency reported.

Military sources did not confirm the news of a soldier having been
wounded in the attack.

The Turkish government deployed approximately 60,000 of its troops
along the country’s border with Iraq on Friday.

Although tensions have intensified between Ankara and Washington over
the recent approval by the US Congress of a resolution calling the
1915 killing of Armenians genocide, Turkish borders are still under
Pentagon’s supervision.

On Friday, the Turkish Prime Minister, Rajab Tayyip Erdogan,
announced his country’s readiness to face up to international
criticism if it launched an attack on Kurdish rebels in northern
Iraq.

Hayots Ashkharh Daily, Armenia
Oct 13 2007

ARMENIA HAS PASSED THAT STATION

Political scientist ANDRANIK MIHRANYAN was the guest-speaker of
the National Press Club yesterday

The journalists tried to clarify one issue: to what extent can the
scenario of President Putin’s becoming a Prime Minister apply to
Armenia, after the President’s ending his second term of office?
Touching upon President Kocharyan’s `Prime Ministerial’ plans of
repeating Mr. Putin’s scenario, a prospect that looks nightmarish to
some people, the speaker said, `The situation in Armenia is quite
different. In Russia, no political figure apart from Mr. Putin has an
electoral basis of his own. The situation in Armenia is different;
last year there were and currently there are people here who,
regardless the President, have their own electoral basis, their
resources and structures. The President’s support can, of course, be
important to a certain extent, but it can never be decisive.’
According to him, `Armenia has already passed that station; that
option is no longer actual after the parliamentary elections. If the
Republicans didn’t have a relevant number of votes and potentials in
the Parliament, if RPA and `Prosperous Armenia’ replaced each other,
and if Dashnaktsutyun were a majority party instead of the
Republican, all kinds of combinations would be possible. But after
the Parliamentary elections, the situation is such that the
pro-Government party has no alternative apart from running for
election with a united candidate. And everybody knows the name of
that candidate. Even in Moscow we are aware of it too.’
With regard to the ex-President’s unexpected appearance and his
pretensions to presidency, Mr. Mihranyan believes that his
participation in the electoral marathon may become the top intrigue
of the electoral campaign, just like `Prosperous Armenia’s’
appearance on the scene prior to the Parliamentary elections.
It turned out that as a professional analyst and political
scientists concerned about the problems of his home country, Mr.
Mihranyan has managed to have a meeting with Levon Ter-Petrosyan in
order to understand, `what’s going on here.’ Just fancy! He is
enthusiastic by the fact that the ex-President has marked his second
advent by visiting the office of Dashnaktsutyun party and meeting
Vazgen Manoukyan and that he, in general, is actively scrutinizing
his chances for `return’.
A. Mihranyan is under the impression that `he hasn’t made his
decision yet’ and even his closest people do not know whether the
ex-President will lead his struggle till the end or change his mind
in the middle of the way. `But if he advances his candidacy and runs
for elections, this will be a specific kind of referendum, by which
the people will express their attitude towards his Administration and
those years and the present-day Administration and these years.’ The
speaker was reluctant to make a `third hand’ assessment on the pros
and cons of these and those years; he only said that, `the people
have to weigh everything and decide what they give preference to and
what political and economic victories there were before 1998 and
thereafter.’
Anyway, `I will be happy if Mr. Ter-Petrosyan becomes a political
factor, i.e. a constructive factor that makes an investment in the
development of the political traditions, in order for these elections
not to become a separating factor, but, on the contrary, serve for
purposes of reconciling everybody with one another.’
And who has more chances and administrative resources for
achieving success in these elections? In response to this question,
the political scientist avoided to assume the role of a
fortune-teller. Nevertheless, estimating the real chances of the
Prime Minister and his `real alternative’ i.e. Mr. Ter-Petrosyan (as
presented by those supporting the Armenian pan-National Movement) he
stated, `Serge Sargsyan has a very big resource, and these are not
limited to administrative resources only. These may be informative
resources, financial resources etc. This is normal for a person who
has been in big politics for nearly 20 years and is in his upheaval,
considering that a few months ago the Republican Party had a tangible
victory in the parliamentary elections. The results of these
elections testify to the fact that Serge Sargsyan undoubtedly has
overwhelming potentials and chances,’ especially considering the fact
that `Prosperous Armenia’ has declared of its intention to support
him, and there will certainly be political forces that will support
the Prime Minister in a likewise manner.
As much as Levon Ter-Petrosyan is concerned, `If he manages to
bring all the pro-Opposition factions together and become a united
candidate, propose a program which can really encourage the people
who, in the course of so many years, have learnt to solve their
problems beyond the political arena, this can make the competition
more interesting. That’s to say, it will be impossible in this case
to speak about automatic victory. But if there are many factions
running for election on their own, and Levon Ter-Petrosyan is not
perceived as a united candidate, I find that his chances will be more
restricted.’
By the way, A. Mihranyan is inclined to exaggerate the factor of
external forces in the upcoming elections and doesn’t think that S.
Sargsyan is definitely the `candidate supported by Russia’ and Levon
Ter-Petrosyan – the candidate supported by Washington. Of course the
attitude of superpowers can have a certain impact; nevertheless, `the
decisive role will belong to the internal forces and the internal
resources. Even if the universe desires to participate in the
presidential elections of Armenia, it will be unable to do anything
if Armenia has not developed relevant conditions.
In what role does the political scientist see Robert Kocharyan
after the end of his term of office? Mr. Mihranyan does not have the
answer to this question since ha hasn’t had the occasion of meeting
the President in person and finding out what’s on his mind, and, in
general, he considers the President a reserved personality. He even
doubts that there are at least a couple of people with whom the he
`shares his thoughts’, that’s to say, trusts them his cherished
desires in an outspoken manner. `But Robert Kocharyan is young: he
already has a 10 years’ experience in Armenia and before that – a 10
years’ experience in Karabakh. And I believe, he will find his
place,’ the political scientist predicted.

38&nt=Politics

Financial Mirror (Cyprus)
COMMENT: US House panel helps end the cycle of
Genocide

12/10/2007

By Nikolaos Taneris

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2007 — Long before the hearing on Armenian
Genocide H. Res. 106 was to commence, yesterday, in Room 2172 in the
House Rayburn building, a long line had already formed by droves of
Turkish parliamentarians and Turkish government agents, including
Turkey’s ambassador. All flanked by well-heeled lobbyists like Mr. Bob
Livingstone and a slew of Turkey-sponsored Genocide denial groups,
most notable was the heads of the `interfaith dialogue’ group that
calls itself the RUMI FORUM, who treated us to long hard hate-stares
as we walked by them to the back of the line.

The tragic episode of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 resonates
with our people, because as the Armenians were methodically deported
and massacred by Ottoman Turkey’s government, and even into the
nationalist era of Mustafa Kemal’s rule. Likewise , our own parallel
population in the Black Sea littoral , in some areas even surrounding
Angora, and finally in the legendary Greek Orthodox Christian city of
Smyrna were uprooted and killed, unlike the Armenians , our people at
least had a free homeland (of their own) to flee to, and find
refuge. Culturally, its difficult for our people to ever forget this
time and crime, many of modern Greek culture’s most legendary
contributors were descended from refugees, — Harry Klynn, Apostolos
Nikoliades , and Stelios Kazantzidis to name just a few, our culture
in Greece and Cyprus remains inextricably tied to the some two million
refugees and survivors of this time, not surprisingly, Greece and
Cyprus were amongst the first countries in this world to officially
recognize the Armenian Genocide.

It was against this background that STOP coalition (Stop Terrorizing
Orthodox Peoples!) activist Fotios Cheung, and me and veteran Hellenic
activist Alex Aliferis, saw firsthand a successful attempt by our
representative American democracy to finally, begin to end the cycle
of genocide by the Turkish government.

The Turks clearly want to see blood in this campaign, as always,
trying to bluff their way out of their responsibility, by use of
threats and intimidations. Shamelessly, the Bush administration, the
State Department and even the Pentagon has been relentless in calling
up Congressmen, essentially pleading with them to cave in to Turkish
Genocide denial.

We couldn’t help but feel profound sadness upon seeing the four
elderly women in wheelchairs lined up in the first row of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee hearing room, with the simple tag on their
shirts reading `I am a survivor of the Armenian Genocide’, and behind
them a gaggle of Turks, flown in from Turkey, wearing a big white
sticker on the lapels of their expensive suits, with a big black `NO’
to H. Res. 106 pinned to their lapels underneath their sneering
pugs. Two elderly Armenian gentlemen who demonstrated with us for
Smyrna Massacre remembrance, last month, were also there, and gave
Fotios and me, big, heartfelt hugs.

— HOUSE PANEL SUPPORTERS

Chairman of House Committee on Foreign Affairs Congressman Tom Lantos
opened the debate, the only Jewish Holocaust survivor ever to serve in
the House, mentioning the alleged importance of the American bases in
Turkey, he followed up by quoting the writings of Henry Morgenthau,
the U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time of the
atrocities – `I am confident that the whole history of the human race
contains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacres and
persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared with
the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915.’ The opening remarks
ended with the statement `This is a vote of conscience, and the
Committee will work its will.’ Ultimately, Chairmen Lantos lunged
forward and offered a resounding `YES’ to H. Res 106.

Congressman Gary Ackerman whose district covers familiar territory in
Queens New York, such as Flushing, pretty much told it like it is and
said he felt so sorry for these people who travelled here , the
survivors, in wheelchairs, through airports, from different parts of
the country , gesturing to them he said "What time can they come
back?"

Chinese-American Congressman David Wu, a Democrat from Oregon, in
solemn dignity, told the Committee that his vote, `YES’, is a vote for
truth!

Greek-American Gus Bilirakis, Republican from Florida, said `the
Armenian Genocide of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915, can no longer be
put on the back burner’.

Most memorable was Cuban-American Congressman Albio Sires (D-NJ), who
in a beautiful Spanish accent, revealed to all and sundry the real
murderers of truth, Sires said `a Turkish sword is over my head’,
before boldly offering a proud `YES’.

— WHO SAID NO?

Dan Burton, the Republican from Indiana, has a long record of support
for Turkish Crimes and their cover up, over the years Burton has been
an active participant, from the very beginning, of US delegations
visiting the pseudo-regime in northern Cyprus, disregarding
international law, Burton has also been involved in numerous official
delegations and receptions with the pseudo-regime in Turkish-occupied
Cyprus. Burton said that this resolution would mean `cutting off our
nose’ and `shooting ourselves in the foot’, no surprise here, he voted
`NO’.

Robert Wexler (D-FL), is co-chair of the pro-Turkish caucus in
Congress, claiming that Turkey helped twice in America’s wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan, and emphasizing this by slamming his fist on the
podium , he voted `NO’, again , no surprise.

The BIG SURPRISE came from Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the
Republican from Florida. Last weekend she was honoured, in a Terrace
on the Park New York event, as a `philhellene’ in Congress, with a
Justice for Cyprus award from Cypriot businessman Nikos Mouyiaris, who
heads up the Pancyprian Association of America. This was one of the
biggest Cypriot events of the year, Philip Christopher, the Chairman
of the International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus (PSEKA)
was there for her, Andrew Manatos the long-time Washington lobbyist
was said to be there, even Dalaras the musician, who ironically
composes songs about refugees, was there. In her speech to the House
Panel, however, citing Iraq, and claiming fear for her
daughter-in-law’s safety in Iraq, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen, bailed
out , `NO’ was what she said to the Armenian Genocide resolution.

When the final vote was announced of 27-21, the room exploded in
cheers, many wept, the Turks quickly cleared out, and we were left
with a victory for truth, thanks to the conscience of those who truly
believe in truth and American democracy, rather than those who cower
to threats and intimidation. We were not the only ones who traveled
from several states away, we met young men and women who took off from
work and flew in from as far away as California and Canada, to see our
democratic representatives affirm a truth, that Turkey and its
supporters have spent the last 92 years trying to run and hide from,
all over the world.

The day after, Turkey has continued its threats and its shameless
expressions of `disappointment’ at the House panel’s affirmation of
truth. The US State Department’s Daily Briefing, late today also
reiterated who they support, in regards to truth, Undersecretary
Burns, also long regarded as a `philhellene’ has already been speaking
to Turkish officials, repeating the US State Department’s `commitment
to work with Congress on this to see that the full House in fact votes
to defeat this resolution as we move forward.’

My friend Christos, compared this struggle in the coming days to a
football game, or what we call in America, soccer, when a team wins by
a narrow margin, it’s more and more enthused to work, ever harder, to
set right what went wrong.

The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has promised, publicly, that
the full vote on the House floor will take place before Thanksgiving,
or end of November, some say it may even take place within the next
ten days.

Let’s also not forget that the one advantage the Turks always have is
time, after all, the years are passing and the survivors may not be
around anymore as living testaments to the Armenian Genocide, if not
now, then "What time can they come back?"

=====================
Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
2578 Broadway #132
New York, NY 10025
New York: Tel. 917-699-9935
Email: [email protected]
www.cyprusactionnetwo rk.org

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT CALLED ON ARMENIA AND TURKEY "TO TAKE REAL STEPS FOR RECONCILIATION"

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.10.2007 16:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Armenia and Turkey should take real steps for
reconciliation," Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European
Commission, said at a joint news conference with Armenian President
Robert Kocharian in Brussels.

When asked about European Commission’s attitude about passage of
the Armenian Genocide Resolution by the U.S. House Committee on
Foreign Affairs, Mr Barroso said," We stand against politicization
of delicate issues."

"The only way to resolve a painful issue is reconciliation, which
is one of the fundamental principles of the European integration
policy," he said. "We always remind Turkey of importance of neighborly
relations."

TURKISH LEADERS DECRY US GENOCIDE BILL

Taipei Times, Taiwan
Oct 12 2007

INSULTING: President Bush had warned that the bill could harm
US-Turkish relations, while the Turkish government will seek approval
for an incursion into northern Iraq

AGENCIES, ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Friday, Oct 12, 2007, Page 7
Turkish leaders yesterday reproached a US congressional panel decision
to approve a bill describing the World War I-era killings of Armenians
as genocide.

Despite intense lobbying by Turkish officials and opposition by US
President George W. Bush, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed
the bill by a 27-21 vote — a move likely to be considered an insult
by most Turks.

Bush had warned that the bill could harm US-Turkish relations, which
are already tense as Turkey considers staging a military offensive
into Iraq against Kurdish rebels who have hideouts there. The US
fears such an operation could destabilize one of the few relatively
peaceful areas in the country.

"Unfortunately, some politicians in the United States have once again
sacrificed important matters to petty domestic politics despite all
calls to common sense," Turkish President Abdullah Gul said after
the US vote on the genocide bill.

In a statement, the Turkish government condemned the panel’s vote.

"It is not possible to accept such an accusation of a crime which
was never committed by the Turkish nation," the statement said. "It
is blatantly obvious that the House Committee on Foreign Affairs does
not have a task or function to rewrite history by distorting a matter
which specifically concerns the common history of Turks and Armenians."

Turkish newspapers denounced the decision.

"27 foolish Americans," the Vatan daily said on its front-page
headline, in reference to legislators who voted in favor of the bill.

Hurriyet called the resolution: "Bill of hatred."

Bush had urged Congress to reject the legislation, and Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates also
conveyed their concerns.

Passing the measure "at this time would be very problematic for
everything we are trying to do in the Middle East," Rice told reporters
at the White House hours before the vote

On Wednesday, hundreds of Turks marched to the US embassy in Ankara
and the consulate in Istanbul to protest the bill.

The US embassy, meanwhile, urged its citizens to be alert for possible
violence after the vote, amid fears of an increase in anti-American
feeling in Turkey.

The Turkish anger over the bill has long prevented a thorough domestic
discussion of what happened to a once sizable Armenian population
under Ottoman rule.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a systematic
genocide between 1915-17, before modern Turkey was born in 1923.

Turkey says the killings occurred at a time of civil unrest as the
Ottoman Empire was falling apart, and that the numbers are inflated.

Turkey’s political leadership and the head of state have told both
Bush and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that passing the bill could
strain US-Turkey ties, already stretched by Washington’s unwillingness
to help Ankara crack down on Kurdish rebels holed up in Iraq.

After France voted last year to make it a crime to deny the killings
were genocide, the Turkish government ended its military ties with
that country.

Meanwhile, the Turkish government was likely to submit a motion to
parliament yesterday seeking approval for an incursion into northern
Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said as deadly violence continued to plague the mainly
Kurdish southeast.

Erdogan hinted that no immediate military action was planned.

"We could send the motion to parliament tomorrow," he told CNN Turk
television late on Wednesday, adding that a vote on the text could
take place next week.

The government, he said, is planning to seek a one-year authorization
for an incursion into northern Iraq, where about 3,500 militants of
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are taking refuge.

October 12, 2007

THE WORLD FROM BERLIN

‘The West Needs Turkey as a Reliable Ally’

Tensions between the US and Turkey are growing as Ankara considers
attacking PKK bases in northern Iraq and a congressional committee in
Washington pushes forward a resolution calling the World War I
massacre of Armenians "genocide." German commentators are concerned at
the deteriorating relations between the NATO allies.

Relations between the United States and Turkey have hit a new low
point as a US congressional committee labels the Armenian massacre as
genocide and Turkey prepares the ground for military operations in
northern Iraq.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Ankara
was prepared to face up to international criticism if his country
launched an attack on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

"After going down this route, its cost has already been calculated,"
Erdogan told reporters when asked about international reaction to such
an operation. "Whatever the cost is, it will be met."

Erdogan’s government has decided to seek approval from parliament next
week for military incursions into northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish
rebels there. The bill would give the government a one-year
authorization to launch military operations across the border against
the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

On Wednesday, Washington warned Turkey against unilateral action in
northern Iraq. The US does not want to rock the boat in what is Iraq’s
most peaceful region, fearing that a Turkish offensive could
potentially destabilize the wider region. Turkey is a key US ally and
has the second-largest army in NATO.

US-Turkish relations have also been soured by a move on Wednesday by
the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committtee to approve a resolution
that would label the Ottoman massacre of Armenians during World War I
as genocide. The resolution now goes to the floor of the House of
Representatives, with a vote expected by mid-November. The resolution
is supported by the powerful Armenian-American lobby.

The decision, which is expected to ramp up anti-American sentiment in
Turkey, was strongly condemned in the country, with street protests
erupting in Ankara and Istanbul. Expressing its diplomatic
displeasure, Turkey on Thursday recalled its ambassador to the US for
consultations, and the government in Ankara said the resolution, if
passed, would damage US-Turkish relations.

Commentators writing in Germany’s main newspapers Friday expressed
concern at the deteriorating relations between the two allies.

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"The (congressional committee’s) decision could cause great damage, on
two levels: on the one hand to fundamental realpolitik interests, but
also to efforts to deal with the past in Turkey itself. … The United
States and the West need Turkey as a reliable ally. The country has
the second-largest army in NATO and is an important anchor of
stability in an increasingly hostile and unstable region. … However,
it is the timing which is fatal: The resolution coincides with a
rising wave of anti-American and anti-West rhetoric in Turkey. … It
is hardly a coincidence that Ankara’s motion on cross-border military
operations in northern Iraq comes at the same time as the resolution
in Washington."

"Something strange has been happening in Turkey in recent years. The
old taboos have started to crack as intellectuals, writers and
journalists push for a genuine reappraisal of the massacres. …
Resolutions by foreign parliaments do not help these timid attempts to
come to terms with the past. On the contrary, they play into the hands
of the nationalists and those who deny the massacres."

The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"The decision … is a lesson in American politics. In this lesson, a
whole variety of people and factors are in play in the background: the
influence of a strategically placed lobby, the meaning of history and
human rights in conflict with security and political interests, the
relationship between Congress and the president, the calculations of
leading politicians, and so on … . It’s clear that Ankara henceforth
will have less regard for Washington’s interests and wishes."

The Financial Times Deutschland writes:

"Politically, it’s a inexpensive gift to a few voting blocks in the
US, and a very expensive affront to Turkey … An open fight between
Ankara and Washington mostly endangers supply-chains for troops in
Iraq that arrive through Turkey. … The timing for an uproar over
history and etiquette could not be more inauspicious."

"American representatives appear little interested: Recently they
officially concluded it would be best to have Iraq divided into
Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish areas … For Turkey, a neighboring
independent Kurdish state is a horror to imagine."

The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes:

"From the Turkish viewpoint, yesterday’s resolution looks like a
provocation. The reputation of the United States has long been at a
low point. You have to go back a long way to find a similarly bad
atmosphere — perhaps to 1974, when Washington and Ankara fell out
over Cyprus."

"Since the US invasion of Iraq, the Kurdish PKK has operated from
northern Iraq against targets in Turkey without being hindered by the
US Army or its allied Kurdish militias. This is a catastrophic
political failure on both sides. The United States — whether out of
ignorance or calculation — has allowed its Kurdish allies in northern
Iraq to play the PKK card… . If the US government does not visibly
act to hinder PKK attacks in the coming weeks, then there is the risk
of a new theater of war emerging in Iraq."

— David Gordon Smith, 11:30 a.m. CET

Source: ,1518 ,511077,00.html