Author: Kanayan Tamar

POLICY OF 1915
By MUmtaz’er TUrkOne

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Oct 15 2007

The rise of an incident that occurred nearly a century ago as one
of the most important problems of Turkish foreign policy is very
unusual. To formulate a law in regards to events that took place during
World War I is a rather interesting decision for the US Congress,
especially considering what took place during World War II and the
Cold War, both of which stand between then and now. There is a pretty
unusual situation here.

There should be a plausible explanation for this. Why does such an
old incident bother Turkey? Why does the US Congress go after this
meaningless genocide legislation?

Why genocide comes to the agenda?

The most important reason seems to be the internal problems of the
Armenian diaspora. Only a small portion of the Armenian population
lives in Armenia. There are large Armenian communities all over the
world, particularly in the US and France. The Armenians who live
separately in other countries need to keep the bonds among themselves
intact. Sustaining such bonds and preserving one’s identity is a
basic human need. The events of 1915 play a significant role for
the sustainability of these bonds between the Armenians who come
together to remember these incidents and bring them to the agenda of
the country where they live. They inform the conscience of the new
generations regarding their past and identity. The Armenians maintain
the relations between their communities in different parts of the world
in this way. 1915 turns into a common denominator between Armenians all
over the world. To make put the special agenda of a certain community
on the agenda of mainstream society is seen as a huge success. This
could be observed in the process by which the US Congress made progress
towards the recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide.

The second important factor can be found in current approaches to
minority problems. The Armenian question was a minority issue for
the Ottoman Empire under the war conditions in 1915. The minority
issues that are being discussed in different parts of the world also
determine relations to the past. An old story like that of 1915
becomes attractive for today’s minorities as they consider such
questions. Thus, people start to pay attention to this particular
issue.

US domestic politics and diplomacy:

Are these two factors enough to explain the eagerness of the US
House of Representatives to proceed with their recognition of the
"Armenian genocide"? Not yet. There must be something in the current
political landscape to explain this eagerness. So attention should
also be directed to current diplomacy and domestic political balances.

The Armenian genocide issue comes on the agenda in the US every year
immediately before the presidential elections, which are held every
four years. Both the Republicans and the Democrats show interest
in this issue constantly sustained by the Armenian lobby. The
question remains on the agenda for a while and is destined to be
shelved following the elections. In this way, the Armenian genocide
resolution is kept on the agenda as a domestic political issue all
the time. But this time the case is different. For the first time the
issue was discussed very seriously. This time, a concrete result is
expected. Therefore, it is essential to see that American diplomacy
was involved in this decision to use it as a trump card against Turkey.

Turkey is one of the most influential allies for the US in its way
out of the Iraqi quagmire. The US needs trump cards to transform
the strategic partnership between the two countries into a strong
cooperation. Seen from this perspective, the Armenian genocide
resolution, currently being discussed before the US Congress, which
is seriously considering the proposed resolution, is a useful means of
imposing pressure for the US diplomats. It is very reasonable for the
American side to use the proposed Armenian genocide resolution as a
trump card against Turkey in return for its assistance with regard to
the Iraq issue. The use of such tactics is not new; it has been used
in the past by US diplomats. But something is different this time. The
US has to take radical decisions in regards to Iraq. It needs Turkey
more than ever at this stage so the trump card to be used needs to be
stronger. This is the central reason that the US Congress has chosen to
deliberate on the Armenian genocide resolution with such earnestness.

Turkey’s approach

As a state whose diplomatic traditions and reflexes are strong on
such issues, it is only natural for Turkey to react. We are talking
about a diplomatic tradition by which the Turkish state intervened in
European internal balances and subsequent developments as a European
state. Turkey is very well aware of the meaning of the prevalent
eagerness to present this issue as a diplomatic problem.

Harmony between the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government
and the military wing is a result of this diplomatic maturity. Recently
Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaþar Buyukanýt said the attempt of a
strategic ally to legally recognize these historical incidents in
such a way as to accuse Turkey was incomprehensible.

This statement, in fact, summarizes the subject. Buyukanýt describes
the Committee on Foreign Affairs as having shot itself in the foot
with the recent vote. The Turkish side is more concerned about Iraq.

It holds that the US does not provide the necessary support in the face
of escalating terrorism. Turkey plans to launch a military cross-border
operation to deal with this rising problem. It perceives the recent
action by the House of Representatives as inconsistent with friendship
at a time when it is getting ready to ask permission from Parliament
for such an operation.

For this reason, the remarks of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan,
who expressed anger with the US, in relation to the cross-border
operation should be taken as normal. His insistence that Turkey is
ready to pay the price for such an operation is also a warning to
the US.

What really happened in 1915?

Remembering what the 1915 incident represents to Turkey independently
of this recent diplomatic row is also important for understanding
the anger on the Turkish side.

World War I was a way of sharing imperialist spoils. The war broke
out because Germany and Italy were late in this imperialist sharing.

Ottoman soil was an important part of these imperialist moves. The
government aligned with Germany in the war out of consideration of
the seriousness of the situation.

Because the weakest link of the multinational empires was the ethnic
question, the minorities in the Ottoman state were provoked during the
war. In war conditions under which males were fighting at the front and
the remaining population was defenseless, the Armenian gangs backed
by Russia committed violent acts inside Ottoman territories. The Van
insurgency that broke out immediately after the war started made
the situation very urgent. The Ottoman state resorted to forced
migration to resolve the problem. Horrible events happened during
the migration. Many Armenians died. But the fact is that Russia,
England and France are more responsible than the Ottoman state is in
this case. Now, current imperialist considerations rather than the
incident itself are behind this diplomatic question.

There is no doubt that Turkey has the right to defend itself in
this case.

–Boundary_(ID_UuX1/efCMpy9RLRPQoWDLw)–

International Herald Tribune, France
Oct 14 2007

U.S. House speaker vows debate on Armenian genocide resolution

By Brian Knowlton Published: October 14, 2007

WASHINGTON: The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives insisted
Sunday that she would bring to the full chamber a resolution
condemning the killings of Armenians nearly a century ago as
genocide, even as a Turkish general warned that this could lastingly
damage a military relationship crucial to American forces in Iraq.

A House committee Wednesday passed a nonbinding resolution declaring
the killings, which began in 1915 in the waning days of the Ottoman
Empire, to be genocide, and the speaker, Representative Nancy Pelosi,
said Sunday that "I’ve said if it passed the committee that we would
bring it to the floor."

But in Ankara, the Turkish military chief, General Yasar Buyukanit,
said that if the full House passed the resolution, "our military
relations with the United States can never be the same," Reuters
reported. "The U.S. shot its own foot," he told the Milliyet
newspaper.

Buyukanit’s comment came two days after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan cautioned that bilateral relations with the United States, a
key partner in NATO, were endangered. To underscore the point, Turkey
has recalled its ambassador from Washington for consultations.

Strains have been further heightened by Turkish military and
political preparations for possible strikes inside northern Iraq
against militant Kurdish separatists, something U.S. officials fear
could further destabilize the region. With troops poised near the
border, the Turkish Parliament is set to debate whether to authorize
an incursion. The rising tensions sent oil prices Friday to a record
high of $84 a barrel.

The stage is thus set for a major showdown, with unknown
consequences, if the full House approves the genocide resolution.

The Turkish government has bitterly protested the use of the word
genocide – acknowledging the deaths of more than a million Armenians,
many during forced relocations, but saying there was no intent to
eliminate them. The deaths occurred before the creation of the
Turkish republic in 1923.

Ankara’s past warnings have not been hollow. Last year, it halted
military cooperation with France after French lawmakers passed a
genocide resolution.

The Bush administration’s paramount concern is that U.S. forces might
lose access to a major hub for shipping fuel and matériel to Iraq, a
case President George W. Bush made Thursday.

The administration has sent two senior officials to Ankara to allay
Turkish anger. One of the two, Eric Edelman, under secretary of
defense for policy, said Saturday that Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice had "asked us before we came here to express that the Bush
administration is opposed to this resolution," The Associated Press
reported from Istanbul. Edelman was joined by Dan Fried, assistant
secretary of state for European affairs.

Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have argued strongly against
the resolution. The Turkish government has hired top lobbyists to add
to the pressure on Congress.

If Pelosi does bring the matter to the full House, probably late this
month or next month, it would be "the most irresponsible thing" to
come from Congress this year, said Representative John Boehner,
Republican of Ohio, the House minority leader.

"There’s no question that the suffering of the Armenian people some
90 years ago was extreme," he said on Fox-Television. But that
chapter in Turkey’s past, Boehner added, "ought to be a subject for
historians to sort out, not politicians."

An ABC-TV interviewer put to Pelosi the tough question at the core of
the debate: What if forcing a vote on the resolution were to endanger
the security of American troops in Iraq?

"Some of the things that are harmful to our troops relate to values –
Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, torture," said the California congresswoman,
whose district includes thousands of Armenian-Americans. "Our troops
are well-served when we declare who we are as a country and increase
the respect people have for us as a nation."

Pointing to a 20-year history of votes on the Armenian matter being
deferred by war or geopolitical considerations, she said, "There’s
never been a good time."

Pelosi made other points: President Ronald Reagan had referred to the
killings as genocide; aging Armenian survivors will soon be dead; and
23 other countries have declared the killings genocide.

The committee vote Thursday was bipartisan, but on Sunday, Republican
leaders roundly condemned the resolution.

"I don’t think the Congress passing this resolution is a good idea at
any point," Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, the Senate
minority leader, said on ABC-TV, "but particularly not a good idea
when Turkey is cooperating with us in many ways, which assures
greater security for our soldiers."

It is unclear whether the administration might yet be able to
dissuade Pelosi from pressing ahead. But she noted Sunday that she
had yet to hear directly from Bush.

"We’ve never had a conversation about it," she said. "I’ve heard from
the secretary of state and others in the administration, but I’ve
never heard from the president."

Representative Steny Hoyer , Democrat of Maryland, the House majority
leader, said he hoped Turks would understand that the resolution was
not aimed at modern-day Turkey or its people. But he seemed to imply
that the economic and political costs to Turkey of cutting off U.S.
access might be so great that it might ultimately back down.

"Turkey’s help to us is vital," he said on Fox TV, but "more vital is
the United States’ help to Turkey."

Eight former U.S. secretaries of state oppose the resolution, and on
Sunday, former President Jimmy Carter joined them.

"I think if I was in Congress I would not vote for it," he said on
CNN.

ArmRadio – Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 11 2007

Arpi Vartanian: We won a great diplomatic victory
11.10.2007 15:43

`Today is a happy day for Armenians of the world, since we won a
great diplomatic victory, Regional Director of the Armenian Assembly
of America Arpi Vartanian told a news conference, commenting on the
adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the Foreign Affairs
Committee of the US House of Representatives.

According to Arpi Vartanian, the victory is important, taking into
consideration the pressure of Turkey on US Congressmen and even
threats. Possibly, in this case the threats had the opposite
influence, since it’s not ruled out that members of the Committee
have voted for the bill as a sign of protest against Turkey’s
pressure, Arpi Vartanian noted. She underlined that although the bill
is not binding, it can serve as a basis for future documents of the
US Administration, which will have the force of law. It’s necessary
to continue the work both in the House of Representatives and the
Senate, she noted.

Commenting on the stormy reaction of the Turkish side, Arpi Vartanian
underlined that although the document has no force of law, Turkey
realizes pretty well that in case the US Congress adopts the
resolution, many countries will follow the example and it will be
forced to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Agence France Presse
Oct 12 2007

Politics drive US Armenia resolution

WASHINGTON (AFP) – An explosive mix of political opportunism, moral
crusading and a bitter feud with President George W. Bush is driving
Democrats to ignore Turkey’s ire and label massacres of Armenians as
genocide.

In a case steeped in history, riven with domestic politics but with
major international implications, the House of Representatives is set
to debate a measure on the killings in World War I of up to 1.5
million Ottoman Armenians.

Though it is non-binding, the bill, likely to come up in the full
House in November, has enraged Turkey, which recalled its ambassador
to Washington and stoked fears here it will cut vital logistical
support for US Iraq operations.

Democrats argue that by refusing to condemn the Armenian massacres as
"genocide" the United States will encourage impunity for current and
future crimes against humanity, for example the killings of civilians
in Darfur.

One of the faces of the Democratic effort is Democratic Congressman
Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committe and a
Holocaust survivor known for infusing his politics with a strong
moral tone.

The committee this week passed the bill to the full House floor after
Lantos had called a vote of "conscience" and argued the United States
had a moral duty to describe the killings as "genocide" despite the
consequences.

It was a reminder of the consequences when domestic US politics erupt
onto the international stage from a system where the legislature and
the executive (presidential) branches are equal and often at odds.

Democratic determination on the issue also appears partly born of
intense frustration at past failures to ram the genocide bill through
Congress while it was controlled by Republicans.

"For 25 years I have been told — because I have sponsored a single
resolution for a quarter of a century — I have been told that this
was not the right time to pass this," said House Democratic majority
leader Steny Hoyer.

In 2000, it was pressure by the Democratic administration of
president Bill Clinton, concerned about damage to relations with a
key political ally, which thwarted the measure.

The same committee passed a similar resolution in 2005, but the
Republican leadership stopped it from being brought to the full House
floor in order to spare Bush embarrassment.

No such sentiment applies to Democrats, who are locked in a tense
political showdown with the White House, on issues as diverse as
Iraq, children’s health care and a ‘war on terror’ wiretap program.

Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi is determined that will not happen
again, despite unusual and outspoken public entreaties from Bush,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert
Gates.

"I said, if it comes out of committee, it will go to the floor. Now,
it has come out of committee, and it will go to the floor," she said
Thursday.

Frustrated by years in the political wilderness, Democrats give every
sign that they plan to wield the power granted to them when they
routed Republicans in last November’s congressional elections.

George Harris, a former State Department analyst now at the Middle
East Institute, said the machinations of domestic politics were
playing a key role in the affair — one year out from the next
presidential elections.

"The Democrats won control of Congress and they have to show they can
do something," he said, adding that Pelosi, like many others who
support the bill have powerful constituents in the Armenian
community.

The issue has also seen a fierce lobbying effort on Capitol Hill,
where senior Turkish officials meeting top Democrats and high-priced
lobbyists employed by the Turks and the Armenian exile community
here.

Pelosi, who represents a liberal district in San Francisco has long
been a supporter of the Armenian genocide measure, and it would have
been hard for politically to turn her back on it, as the leader of
her party.

The Armenian National Committee of America, an exile group, gives
Pelosi an ‘A’ rating on its report card on various issues important
to the community.

Michael Rubin, a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute in
Washington, named this week as an advisor to former New York
Repubican mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s campaign, also saw political
motives at play.

"We’re in election season right now. Unfortunately, many people in
Congress are more concerned with posturing than consequences," he
said.

Turkey May Punish Boeing Over Genocide Vote

Business In The Beltway

Forbes.com
10.11.07

By Brian Wingfield

WASHINGTON – Boeing could lose more than a billion dollars worth of
defense contracts with Turkey if the House of Representatives adopts a
resolution to label as genocide the killing of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks nearly a century ago, a State Department official indicated Thursday.

R. Stephen Beecroft, executive assistant to Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, told reporters traveling to Russia and the Middle East
with the secretary that Turkey would consider canceling its Boeing
contracts if the House passes the measure, which could be voted upon as
early as next week.

The Bush administration has lobbied fervently against the resolution,
which has touched a raw nerve for Turkey, a strategic Muslim ally of the
United States in both the war on terror and in Iraq. On Thursday, Ankara
recalled its ambassador to the U.S. for consultations, though he is
expected to be back in Washington within a week to 10 days, the
Associated Press reported.

Officials from the Turkish Embassy did not return a request for comment,
and a spokesman for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, which builds
military equipment, said the company was not aware of any potential
retaliatory action from the Turkish government.

"Our longstanding relationships with Turkish customers, industry and
communities are based on years of experience and mutual respect and
benefit," said the spokesman, Paul Lewis. "We are confident in our
relationship and remain focused on the business and community interests
that have always brought Boeing and Turkey together."

Boeing’s primary defense contract in Turkey is a $1 billion deal to
provide the government with four 737 Airborne and Early Warning Control
aircraft and the accompanying ground support. The first test flight for
the aircraft was completed last month. The Turkish military also uses
Boeing-made guided missiles for its fighter jets.

It was not immediately clear whether Turkey’s contracts with other
U.S.-based military suppliers could be affected. Two years ago, Lockheed
Martin, inked a $67.7 million deal to upgrade Ankara’s F-16 fleet, and
Northrop Grumman has in place a $160 million deal to supply the Turkish
Air Force’s Boeing 737s with radar systems.

In 1915, amidst the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire and the backdrop of
World War I, Ottoman Turks began a campaign to drive Armenians out of
what is now modern-day Turkey. About 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
The Turkish government maintains that the widely accepted number is an
exaggeration, and that what deaths there were came as a result of war.

On Wednesday the House Foreign Relations Committee passed a
nonbinding – and hence symbolic – resolution to label the killings as
genocide. A floor vote on the issue could come as early as next week.

With additional reporting by Matt Swibel

oeing-turkey-congress-markets-equity-cx_bw_1011mar kets40.html

ARMENIA HAILS US COMMITTEE’S BACKING OF ‘GENOCIDE’ BILL

ABC Online, Australia
Oct 11 2007

Armenia has hailed a controversial vote by a US House of
Representatives committee branding the Ottoman Empire’s World War I
massacre of Armenians as genocide.

"This is a very important step towards establishing justice," Armenian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Karapetian told AFP in Yerevan.

Armenian President Robert Kocharian meanwhile insisted in Brussels that
"there is no doubt anywhere in the world about the events that took
place in Turkey in 1915 and there is a consensual attitude towards
those events."

"The fact that Turkey has adopted a position of denial of genocide
does not mean that it can bind other states to deny the historic
truth as well," he added.

The committee defied warnings from President George W Bush and Turkey’s
authorities, voting Wednesday in favour of the resolution by 27 votes
to 21.

In a statement on Thursday, the Turkish Government condemned the
committee’s action and warned against any move to take it to a full
House vote.

To do so, it added, would jeopardise a strategic partnership with an
ally and friend and would be an "irresponsible attitude".

The text of the resolution says the "genocide" should be acknowledged
fully in US foreign policy towards Turkey, along with "the consequences
of the failure to realise a just resolution".

Mr Kocharian is has expressed optimism about future dialogue.

"We hope that this process will lead to full recognition by the United
States of America of the effect of the Armenian genocide," said.

The Armenian head of state said that his country’s relations with
Turkey could not be further worsened by the US vote, and he invited
Turkey to launch a dialogue.

"In our case, there is nothing that can be worsened or limited by
the adoption of this resolution," he said.

"We are ready for diplomatic relations without any preconditions and
we are ready to start a very wide dialogue with Turkish partners on
all possible issues of Turkish-Armenia relations," he added.

The Armenians say 1.5 million of their kinsmen were killed from 1915
to 1923 under an Ottoman Empire campaign of deportation and murder.

Rejecting the genocide label, Turkey argues 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
World War I.

AZNAVOUR’S LONG GOODBYE — 83 AND STILL SINGING

AFP
October 09, 2007

PARIS (AFP) — As he would, Charles Aznavour, uncontested star of
French song, hummed and tapped a few bars before sitting down to talk
about his latest tour, a seemingly gruelling affair for an 83-year-old
— 20 Paris concerts followed by 28 in France, Belgium and Switzerland.

After announcing his retirement in 1999, then again in 2000, and
crooning through a farewell foreign tour in 2006, the French press
reckoned the concerts kicking off next week were the singer’s last
good-bye.

"I never said farewell, never!", said an indignant Aznavour, still
sprightly though a little hard-of-hearing. "But it’s true the tours
are getting shorter. Only 20 concerts in Paris this time against nine
full weeks in the past. Next time it’ll only be three or four days."

"It’s like cutting back on cigarettes to stop smoking," said the
musician who’s composed close to a mammoth 1,000 songs, sold more
than a million records, and played in some 60 films.

"There’ll come a day when I forget the words and stumble on stage —
then I’ll stop."

Nicknamed "Aznovoice" at the beginning of his career by English
critics because of his raspy delivery, the slight and easy-going
showman is the last of a generation of French "chanson" masters —
where the lyrics are king, the tune a prop.

"It’s the words that count," he said. "It’s a French genre. Our
chansons say more than anyone else’s."

Born in Paris in 1924 to Armenian immigrant entertainer parents who
hoped to get to America but were never granted a visa, Aznavour —
original name Aznavourian — grew up in the poorer neighbourhoods of
the city, pulling himself up by the bootstraps to a career on stage.

With his quirky eyebrows and tiny stature — 1.64 metres (5 foot 3
inches in bare feet) — Aznavour never quite made it as a leading
man on screen.

Cash-starved in his early 20s during the war years, Aznavour instead
tried cabaret, where he met and teamed up with young songwriter and
composer Pierre Roche, then with Edith Piaf, who would take him to
America and to a solo career.

"I got lucky," said the singer.

In 1954 he rose to prominence with his live renditions of "Sur Ma Vie",
followed by one of his biggest hits "Je m’voyais deja" in 1960 —
the same year he starred on screen in Francois Truffault’s "Shoot
The Pianist", which catapulted him to fame abroad.

A couple of years later he took New York’s Carnegie Hall by storm
before touring the world and seeing his songs sung by stars from
Ray Charles ("La Mamma") to Liza Minnelli and Fred Astaire. In 1972
he was top of the charts in Britain with the single "She", recently
rerecorded by Elvis Costello for the Julia Roberts-Hugh Grant comedy
"Notting Hill."

"I’m the last of the few singers who didn’t just use their voice," he
said. "There were never very many of us, Sammy Davis, Liza Minnelli,
Shirley Maclaine, Yves Montand and me … we also performed."

Voted one of the century’s top singers with Elvis Presley and Bob
Dylan in a 1999 CNN/Time Internet poll, Aznavour dishes up his lyrics
with a typically French chanson syrupy mash of pop, jazz, blues and
latino sound (his just-released "Colore Ma Vie" was recorded in Cuba
with pianist "Chucho" Valdes).

The hundreds of tunes brought fame and wealth as well as a conflict
with the government tax-man that has left him living in tax-easy
Switzerland half the year.

But the hits often were hard-hitting with a social thrust — songs
about his native Armenia, his 1970s ballad on homosexuality "Comme Ils
Disent" and currently, in his latest album, songs on the environment
and the plight of migrants in France’s sleazy urban ghettos.

"I am attuned to what is going on around me," he said. "I grew up
among the Polish, Armenian and Greek tailors who worked off tables
on the outskirts of Paris. I never knew misery but I did know poverty."

Sitting in his Paris office — the musical publisher Raoul Breton
which he bought in 1995 — Aznavour is interrupted by a small girl
in black boots who suddenly opens the door, his granddaughter Leila,
who’s lost a toy.

A devoted family man and husband married three times but 44 years to
his current wife, Aznavour decribes himself as "the Benetton of song."

One daughter is married to a North African, a son to a half-Canadian,
half-Haitian, himself to a Swedish Protestant though he remains
faithful to the Armenian Gregorian church.

"In half a century the whole world is going to be coloured, people
will be intermixed," he added. "We must all learn to be earthlings
together."

And did he mind being described as a monument of French culture?

"It’s nice to be considered a monument … as long as the pigeons
stay away," he laughed.

RICE URGES LAWMAKERS AGAINST ARMENIA GENOCIDE BILL

EUX.TV
Oct 10 2007
Netherlands

Washington (dpa) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged
Congress on Wednesday to abandon efforts to declare that the Ottoman
Empire’s killing of Armenians was genocide.

Rice, along with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, said the approval
of the resolution would create severe problems in US-Turkish relations
at a time when the United States needs Ankara’s support in the region.

"The passage of this resolution at this time would, indeed, be very
problematic for everything that we’re trying to do in the Middle
East because we are very dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally,"
Rice said.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee was expected to take up the measure
on Wednesday. The Turkish government vehemently opposes the resolution
over the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923.

Gates said the bill would undermine the US war effort in Iraq because
Turkey is a transit point for most of the military equipment and
supplies shipped into Iraq.

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

About 70 per cent of air cargo into Iraq and 30 per cent of the fuel
used by the US military goes through Turkey, Gates said.

President George W Bush telephoned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan last week to express his strong opposition to the bill. At
the same time Bush administration officials have emphasized that
there opposition to the bill does not recognize the tragedy of the
mass murders.

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

Bush has previously called the slaughter "forced exile and murder"
but has not used the term "genocide" – as Armenians have sought.

In a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post last week, the
Turkish embassy to the US called the pending legislation "one-sided"
and warned it would "affect relations between the United States
and Turkey."

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: WHEN PURITY MEETS PRAGMATISM

The Gate – National Journal, DC
armenian_genocide_when_pur.php
Oct 10 2007

Let’s get this detail out of the way: The United States does not brook
genocide. Maybe this country does not always go far enough to stop
genocide where it occurs (Rwanda, Sudan), but it has not ignored,
let alone denied, the mass extermination of an ethnic group since
World War II. What the U.S. always does do in reaction to genocide
is condemn the killing wherever it occurs.

So why the opposition to a nonbinding House resolution that compels
the U.S. government to formally recognize the 1915-17 mass killings
of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide — something George
H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did not do as commander
in chief?

The answer, of course, is Turkey’s resistance to the resolution.

Almost anywhere else in the world, official government condemnation of
genocide is an easy position for Washington to take. Not so with the
Armenian genocide, because Turkey holds many cards, and the U.S. is
in no position to strong-arm anyone it might still count as an ally
in the war on terror.

President Bush abruptly capped a statement to Congress on FISA
legislation today with a warning not to press forward on the
resolution. "We all deeply regret the tragic suffering of the Armenian
people that began in 1915. This resolution is not the right response
to these historic mass killings, and its passage would do great harm
to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on
terror," he said.

As the Armenian-American community well knows, Bush (and his father)
promised to formally recognize the genocide in their presidential
campaigns, but dropped the G-word upon arriving into office. Turkey’s
pivotal geographic location in a region largely hostile to U.S.

interests makes angering Ankara something that is most definitely
not in U.S. interests. When Turkey’s mad, we feel it. For example,
Ankara’s restrictions on U.S. military movements before the 2003
invasion of Iraq hampered initial troop levels.

Yesterday, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., reversed her position on
condemning the Armenian genocide and urged House Foreign Relations
Committee Chairman Tom Lantos to yank the resolution.

"Following a visit to Turkey earlier this year that included meetings
with Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, the Armenian Orthodox
Patriarch… I have great concern that this is the wrong time for
the Congress to consider this measure," the former ranking Democrat
on the House Intelligence Committee wrote in a letter [PDF]. "I
have made 18 trips to the Middle East region over the past 14 years
and am persuaded that Turkey plays a critically important role in
moderating extremist forces there. Given the nature of the threat,
I believe it is imperative to nurture that role — however valid from
the historical perspective, we should avoid taking steps that would
embarrass or isolate the Turkish leadership."

"Embarrass" being the key word here. On its own, Turkey has gone to
some lengths to meet Armenians halfway, and newly elected President
Abdullah Gul has said he favors reforming a widely ridiculed law
penalizing anyone who writes or talks about the genocide or anything
else considered an "insult" to Turkish culture. But government
officials have warned Washington of the price it will pay should the
resolution pass. "About 70 percent of all air cargo going into Iraq
goes through Turkey. About a third of the fuel that [U.S. troops]
consume comes from Turkey," said Defense Secretary Robert Gates this
morning, in remarks reported by the Washington Times.

"This is not because the United States fails to recognize the
terrible tragedy of 1915, the mass killings that took place there,"
said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who’d attended a meeting
with Gates at the White House. "The passage of this resolution at
this time would indeed be problematic for everything that 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." All eight of
the living former secretaries of state have signed a letter urging
Congress to pull the resolution, the Washington Post reports.

Earlier this week, Turkey authorized military action against Kurdish
rebels in northern Iraq, which could potentially destabilize that
relatively peaceful region. The Plank’s Michael Crowley is not alone
in suspecting Ankara’s action was timed to coincide with today’s
committee vote in the House.

Turkey had already unleashed an army of lobbyists on Washington
in anticipation of the House resolution, which is expected to pass
easily if it makes it onto the floor. A Senate version has attracted
33 sponsors. Both Democratic leaders of Congress have indicated they
support the measures and will bring them before the full chambers.

Despite its threats, Turkey is under some pressure itself. The only
Muslim member of NATO wants badly to be a member of the European
Union, while that body’s member nations have made clear that softening
Turkey’s position on the genocide is a deal-maker. Several nations,
including France, were already resistant to the overwhelmingly
Muslim nation’s inclusion in the body, and some observers believe
they are harping on the Armenian genocide as a way to hang out the
"Not Welcome" sign.

Washington does not join Europe in its anti-Turkey sentiment for
at least one good reason: that country’s potential to be a become a
beacon in the poverty- and violence-stricken Muslim world. Turkey is
one of the few Muslim nations allied with Israel — a relationship
it has also threatened hangs in the balance with today’s vote.

There’s an argument to be made that Turkish-Armenian reconciliation
should be allowed to unfold on its own, The Economist observed
earlier this month. The Los Angeles Times’ Matt Welch, meanwhile,
is criticizing lawmakers backing away from the resolution. In 2004,
the New Yorker published a fascinating vignette on how the Gray
Lady finally came around to using the G-word to describe the Ottoman
massacres.

ZHIRAYR SEFILIAN AND VARDAN MALKHASIAN NOT TO BE RELEASED CONDITIONALLY AHEAD OF TIME IN OCTOBER
Author: Mashurian Sona Editor: Khachatrian Haroutiun

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 9 2007
Armenia

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The defence lawyers of Zhirayr
Sefilian and Vardan Malkhasian have applied to the Armenian justice
minister with the request to examine the issue of inaction of "Kentron"
penitentiary’s administration, NT correspondent was informed by
Mushegh Shushanian, the lawyer of V. Malkhasian.

Earlier Mushegh Shushanian and Ara Zakarian, lawyer of Z. Sefilian,
have stated at a press conference that they applied to "Kentron"
penitentiary’s administration with the request to release their clients
ahead of time but the administration did not submit an application
to the independent interdepartmntal commission in order to discuss
this issue.

The coordinator of the civil initiative "Defence of Liberated
Territories" Zhirayr Sefilian (he was found guilty of illegal
possession of arms) has served more than half of his sentence, while
member of the "Homeland and Honor" party’s political board Vardan
Malkhasian (found guilty of making public calls for seizure of state
power) has served over 2/3 of his sentence.

The defence lawyers said that the RA Constitutional Court on October
12 will hear lawyer Hayk Alumian’s application on recognizing the norms
establishing the order of releasing the defendants conditionally ahead
of time as contradicing the Constitution of the RA. In their words, if
the Constitutional Court recognizes these norms as anticonstitutional,
they will have an opportunity to apply to court with the complaint
about the inaction of the penitentiary.

A. Zakarian and M. Shushanian noted that they intend to dispute the
ruling of the Criminal Appeal Court, which left the punishment imposed
on Z. Sefilian and V. Malkhasian unchanged (18 months and two years
respectively), while the imprisonment term of Vahan Aroyan accused of
illegal possession of arms and ammunition was extended by 6 months to
2 years. The lawyers, in particular, are going to present sentences
on similar cases – with lighter punishment.