International Herald Tribune, France
Jan 31 2007
Congressional resolution on Armenian genocide introduced; lawmakers
expect Bush reaction
The Associated PressPublished: January 30, 2007
WASHINGTON: Ignoring expected opposition from President George W.
Bush, Democratic and Republican lawmakers have introduced a
resolution urging the U.S. government to recognize as genocide the
deaths of 1.5 million Armenians at the end of World War I.
The resolution probably will anger Turkey as well as the president.
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, a co-sponsor, acknowledged that the
resolution might harm U.S.-Turkish relations in the short term.
Nevertheless, he said, "I’m optimistic that the relationship will go
on. We will move beyond this."
Schiff and other lead sponsors who introduced the resolution in the
House of Representatives say they have commitments from more than 150
other members who wanted to add their names as co-sponsors after the
legislation’s introduction. That would be a strong show of support in
the 435-member body.
The sponsors, who held a new conference Tuesday attended by two
Armenian survivors of the episode, say that the move to Democratic
control in Congress increases chances that the bill will reach the
House floor for a vote. Similar resolutions have been introduced in
the past but were kept from a vote by congressional leaders.
"We feel very strongly that this year is the year we’re going to get
this passed," said another co-sponsor, Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone
Jr., whose state, New Jersey, has a large Armenian-American
community.
The bill, which recalls the deaths of the 1.5 million Armenians
almost a century ago, is likely to touch raw nerves in Turkey. The
Bush administration has warned that even congressional debate on the
genocide question could damage relations with a vital Muslim ally and
member of NATO.
The resolution’s supporters say that the leader of the House, Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, who has expressed support for the
resolution, is likely to come under pressure from the Bush
administration to keep the House from voting on the bill.
"Make no mistake, the speaker will get a call from the president
asking for no vote on the grounds of national security," said
Republican Rep. George Radanovich, a co-sponsor.
Bush issues a statement every year to commemorate the event. He has
used such words as "tragedy," "forced exile" and "terrible events,"
but not "genocide." In Turkey, it is a crime to use the word to
describe the deaths.
Turkey has adamantly denied claims by scholars that its predecessor
state, the Ottoman government, caused the Armenian deaths in a
planned genocide. The Turkish government has said the toll is wildly
inflated, and Armenians were killed or displaced in civil unrest
during the disarray surrounding the empire’s collapse.
After French lawmakers voted in October to make it a crime to deny
that the killings were a genocide, Turkey said it would suspend
military relations with France. Turkey provides vital support to U.S.
military operations. Incirlik Air Force Base, a major base in
southern Turkey, has been used by the U.S. to launch operations into
Iraq and Afghanistan and was a center for U.S. fighters that enforced
the "no-fly zones" that kept the Iraqi air force bottled up after the
1991 Gulf War.
In Washington, Armenian-American groups have been pressing for years
for a resolution on the genocide issue. Last year, the House of
Representatives’ International Relations Committee endorsed two
resolutions classifying the killings as genocide. But House leaders,
members of Bush’s Republican Party, prevented a vote by the full
chamber.
With a reference to the two survivors in the room, Rose Baboyan and
Sirarpi Khoyan, 100, supporters said that they feel an urgency to
pass a resolution this year.
"While there are still survivors among us, we have, I think, the
highest ethical obligation to recognize the losses of their
families," said co-sponsor Schiff.