Author: Tigranian Ani

Spiegel Online, Germany
Oct 12 2007

‘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.

Military trucks carry Turkish tanks toward Sirnak near the
Turkish-Iraq border on Tuesday. Turkey has begun preparations for a
military operation into Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels.
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
(more…) 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
(more…) 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

,15 18,511077,00.html

Phoenix Business Journal , AZ
Oct 12 2007

State Dems back Armenia-Turkey genocide bill that could impact Iraq

The Business Journal of Phoenix – by Mike Sunnucks The Business
Journal

Arizona’s four Democratic congressional members support a
controversial congressional measure that condemns Turkey for
persecuting Armenians during World War I.

The measure defines Muslim Turks assaults on Christian Armenians
during the early 20th century as a genocide. It passed the U.S. House
Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday. Turkey recalled its ambassador
to the U.S. in response to the Congressional vote.

Critics, including the Bush administration, say the measure will sour
U.S. relations with Turkey which provides supplies including water to
Iraq and U.S. troops there. There also are historic tensions between
Turkey and the Kurdish region of Iraq.

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a freshman Tucson Democrat, voted for
the Armenia measure on the House panel as did most other Democrats
and a few Republicans.

"I am Jewish. I have both a moral and person obligation to condemn
all acts of genocide no matter where or when they occur. Our nation’s
relationship with Turkey is important. Our relationships with all
other countries are important. But our relationship with humanity
matters a well. I cannot vote to deny that the horrific actions of
the Armenian genocide occurred," said Giffords in a statement.

Democratic U.S. Reps. Raul Grijavla of Tucson, Harry Mitchell of
Tempe and Ed Pastor of Phoenix are cosponsors of the Armenia-Turkey
measure as is U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, a Flagstaff Republican.

The Bush administration and other Republicans have warned the Armenia
resolution — which applies to incidents that occurred 90 years ago
— could strain relations with Turkey, a U.S. ally and supplier of
natural resources and supplies into Iraq. Congressional Democrats
have been unsuccessful in their attempts to end the Iraq War.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, a Mesa Republican, also serves on the House
panel that passed the Armenia bill. Flake voted against it.

Arizona exported $36 million worth of goods to Turkey in 2006,
according to federal statistics. Most of those exports were in the
form of transportation equipment.

007/10/08/daily52.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Azeri press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 11 2007

Azeri NGOs critical of US draft resolution on Armenian genocide

The Azerbaijani forum of national non-government organizations has
issued a statement in connection with the adoption of a draft
resolution on the so-called "Armenian genocide" by the US House of
Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The forum says in the statement forwarded to APA news agency that the
adoption of the draft resolution has caused serious concern and
regret in the forum of national NGOs that unites 460 organizations.

"Such an unexpected and unclear step by the legislative body of a
country which is known as a stronghold of democracy and justice in
the world is a blow to the authority of the USA regionally and
worldwide.

"There is no doubt that the adoption of this resolution will damage
not just US-Turkish relations, but also US-Azerbaijani relations,
because US Congress has not reacted at all to the appeal of the
Azerbaijani Milli Maclis [parliament] regarding the Xocali genocide
which Armenia committed in front of all mankind on 26 February 1992
and which is backed up by irrefutable evidence.

"Not only is aggressive Armenia, a country that demands the
recognition of the genocide which allegedly happened in 1915, but
which in fact never happened, not punished, but on the contrary, it
has its groundless demands met."

Appealing to the US public, Congress and Senate, the forum called on
them to prevent the adoption of this resolution which runs counter to
US national interests and damages peace and stability in the region.

GetReligion, DC
Oct 12 2007

Ah, Turks and Armenians, move on!

I think we could use a bit of a flashback to an amazing column that I
read this summer in the Turkish Daily News by the Muslim journalist
Orhan Kemal Cengiz. This was, you may recall, a column titled `We
Cannot Afford to Lose Our Armenians!’

There is a reason that this genocide vs. `genocide’ story is hot and
refuses to fade very much. That reason? Because, in Turkey, it
refuses to fade away. Why? The passions of faith and blood fade
slowly.

Ask Hrant Dink.

That brave Turkish Daily News column – click here for the earlier
GetReligion post – included then-fresh material about new threats
against the Armenian community if it didn’t stop trying to provoke
public discussion of the genocide. The threatening letter was sent to
Armenian schools.

Thus, we read in this `Last Warning and Ultimatum’ that Turkish
Armenians are trying to wreck the Turkish state.

The message also mentioned the murder of Hrant Dink: `. . .
exclamations saying `We are all Armenians, we are all Hrant Dink’ are
examples of extreme chauvinism and summons for revolution. Do not
forget that besides the Armenian citizens of Turkey, there are also
Armenians from Armenia in our land, and they number over one hundred
thousand. Both their addresses and their workplaces are well known.
Henceforth we hope to see our Armenian citizens as advocates of
truth, concerning the Armenian genocide or any other matter, and as
defenders of the Turkish statehood.

`We shall keep an eye on how the Armenians are playing this role.
Otherwise, the Armenians shall be those to lie in the grave and count
how many Armenians and how many Turks there were in the `ages long
past’. This land has never pardoned treachery and shall not. Who does
not stand for our paradise homeland is against us and shall be
vanquished.’

The text ends with the following words: `There is no defense line.
That line is the entire territory. Anything else is just a trifle
when the fate of the homeland is concerned. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk . .
. This is the last ultimatum. It is not to be repeated.’

. . . It is also quite thought provoking, isn’t it, that this racist
letter threatens Armenians with a total extinction if they talk about
the Armenian genocide – `Do not talk about genocide or you may be the
victim of a new one!’

Oh well.

This is an old, old issue (Yada, yada, says Dana Milbank at The
Washington Post). It is also, alas, a contemporary issue. Religion
stories are often both.

"1915 ARMENIAN GENOCIDE" RESOLUTION APPROVED AFTER ALL

Russia Today, Russia
Oct 11 2007

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee has passed
a resolution recognizing the 1915 Armenian massacre as genocide. The
Turkish President says the decision is unacceptable and is not regarded
by the Turkish people as of any value.

Considering the killings of nearly 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman
Turks during World War I, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed
legislation declaring the murders to be cases of genocide. The 27 to
21 vote came after a heated debate that voiced concerns over possible
damage to U.S.-Turkey relations. Turkey is seen as a vital partner
in the war on terror.

"Members of this committee have a sobering choice to make. We have to
weigh the desire to express our solidarity with the Armenian people
and to condemn this historic nightmare through the use of the word
genocide against the risk that it could cause our men and women in the
uniforms of the United States armed services to pay an even heavier
price than they are currently paying," stated Tom Lantos, Chairman
of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee.

The Armenian genocide of 1915 is already recognized by 22 countries,
including Russia and the European Union. Turkey has repeatedly warned
U.S. lawmakers against the passing of such a measure and denies that
the killings were genocide. A number of U.S. congressmen also sided
with Turkey, a key NATO ally.

"This resolution will not settle the issue anymore that it settled
the issue with all the other nations that passed a similar resolution
because the argument continues to go on," Congressman Ted Poe stated.

Just hours before the vote, President Bush called upon Congress to
reject the Armenian genocide bill arguing it would harm U.S.-Turkey
relations.

"This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass
killings, and a vote in favour would do great harm to our relations
with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror," President
Bush stressed.

Emphasizing the Bush administration’s concerns, Secretary of Defense
Gates and Secretary of State Rice argued against the approval of the
resolution. Turkey is a key NATO ally of the U.S. and it has warned
that if the measure is now passed in Congress, it may ban the U.S.

from having a strategic military base which serves as a centre for
operations in the region.

Armenian and Turkish reaction

The Armenian President, Robert Kocharian, has welcomed the decision
and says he hopes relations with Ankara can been restored.

Meanwhile, Turkey is considering military action in Northern Iraq as
part of a large-scale campaign against Kurdish separatists.

The Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, will ask the parliament to
authorise a military push in the area where 3,000 Kurdish rebels are
said to be based.

He was put under pressure to act after 15 Turkish service men were
killed in recent attacks in the region bordering Iraq.

However, the U.S. fears such a move could destabilise Iraq’s most
peaceful region.

TURKS SLAM GENOCIDE ACCUSATION

Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
Oct 11 2007

TURKEY has reacted furiously to being labelled guilty of genocide in
the US Congress.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul denounced as "unacceptable" the decision
by a key Democrat-driven congressional committee to brand as genocide
the Ottoman massacres of Armenians in World War I.

The vote threatens to drive a wedge between the US and one of its
most important allies in the Middle East region.

Washington relies on Turkish bases to supply its war effort in Iraq.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million people died in deportations and
systematic killings between 1915 and 1917 and want the killings
internationally recognised as genocide.

Turkey denies the killings were genocide.

It says that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died
in civil strife when Armenians fought for independence in eastern
Anatolia in WWI and sided with Russian troops invading the crumbling
Ottoman Empire.

President Gul said: "This unacceptable decision of the committee
. . . has no validity and respectability for the Turkish people."

"Unfortunately, some politicians in the United States ignored appeals
for common sense and once again moved to sacrifice big issues to
petty games of domestic politics," he said.

"This is not an action that suits and benefits the representatives
of a great power like the United States."

Hours before the vote, President George W. Bush and his top two
Cabinet members appealed for the genocide claim to be rejected.

Mr Bush warned it would do "great harm to our relations with a key
ally in NATO and in the global war on terror".

Last night the Bush Administration was busy trying to douse the flames.

It fell to State Department spokesman Sean McCormack to enunciate
the Government’s dismay at the vote.

He expressed continued strong opposition and said passage of the
resolution would gravely harm US-Turkish relations and US interests
in Europe and the Middle East.

US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said he would call the
Turkish ambassador to Washington, and that Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice would talk to Turkish leaders today.

Further straining ties between the US and its NATO ally, Turkish Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan was expected to ask Parliament overnight to
authorise a military incursion into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish
rebels using the region as a base.

Mr Erdogan is under pressure to act after rebel attacks that have
killed 15 soldiers since Sunday, but political analysts say a major
cross-border operation remains unlikely.

A large incursion would also strain ties with the European Union,
which Ankara hopes to join, and could undermine regional stability.

Russia also urged restraint.

GUL: UNFORTUNATELY, SOME POLITICIANS IN UNITED STATES HAVE ONCE AGAIN SACRIFICED IMPORTANT MATTERS TO PETTY DOMESTIC POLITICS

Turkish Press
Oct 11 2007

ANKARA – "Unfortunately, some politicians in the United States have
once again sacrificed important matters to petty domestic politics
in spite of calls to common sense," Turkish President Abdullah Gul
said late on Wednesday.

President Gul told the A.A after the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the bill regarding Armenian
allegations on the incidents of 1915, "this attitude does not befit
representatives of such a great power like the United States. This
unacceptable decision, like the similar ones in the past, has validity
and respectability for Turkish people."

-GOVERNMENT’S VIEW-

Meanwhile, the Turkish government said in a statement released by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "our government regrets and condemns
this decision. It is unacceptable that the Turkish nation has been
accused of something that never happened in the past."

"The committee’s approval of this resolution was an irresponsible move,
which at a greatly sensitive time will make relations with a friend
and ally, and a strategic partnership nurtured over generations,
more difficult," it said.

Pointing out that the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on
Foreign Affairs passed the bill describing the Ottoman Empire’s
decision to relocate part of Armenians because of their collaboration
with occupation forces as "genocide", the government said, "the 1915
incidents have still been discussed by historians. A number of renown
historians from different countries assess the Ottoman Empire’s
relocation decision as a warfare security measure taken during the
World War I. 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. Parliaments are obliged to further improve
relations between peoples and concentrate on the future, instead of
the past."

"Turkey has been advocating for years that the disputed periods in
the history should be dealt by historians, not by legislative organs.

In 2005, we proposed Armenia to set up a joint commission to examine
documents in archives. Armenia has not yet given a positive response to
our offer. We note that Armenia pursued an intentional agenda about
approval of the bill instead of accepting our sincere proposal,"
it said.

"Our government regrets and condemns this decision. It is not possible
to accept such an accusation of a crime which was never committed by
the Turkish nation. We hope that the U.S. House of Representatives
will act with common-sense and refrain from taking further similar
steps. Turkey will expend all kinds of efforts to prevent approval of
the bill by the full House of Representatives," the government added.

FUNERAL HELD FOR ARMENIAN WOMEN SLAIN IN SECURITY FIRM SHOOTING

KPLC-TV, LA
Associated Press
Oct 10 2007

BAGHDAD (AP) – Mourners have been calling for justice at a funeral for
two Armenian Christian women shot to death while driving in central
Baghdad yesterday.

Iraqi authorities have blamed the killings on guards working for a
private, Australian-owned security company. The company says its team
fired after the car failed to stop despite warnings.

The funeral Mass for the two women was held at the Virgin Mary Church
in Baghdad. A priest there urged the government to kick the company
out of Iraq and punish those responsible, despite the immunity that
foreign security contractors have generally enjoyed.

He called the incident a "crime against humanity," adding that many
others have been killed in similar circumstances.

The daughters of 1 of the slain women wept over the casket.

U.S. WARNED AGAINST CALLING ARMENIAN KILLINGS GENOCIDE; TURKISH OUTCRY
by Peter Goodspeed, National Post

National Post (Canada)
October 10, 2007 Wednesday
National Edition

The United States has been warned its relations with Turkey will
be irreparably damaged and U.S. troops in Iraq could be placed at
risk if Congress passes a resolution describing the mass killing of
Armenians 92 years ago as genocide.

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul sent a letter to U.S. President
George W. Bush yesterday in which he said "serious problems" will
emerge if Congress passes the resolution being tabled for approval
today in the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

Turkey’s parliamentary speaker Koksal Toptan has warned "it might
take decades to heal negative effects" if the motion passes.

Congress is being asked to condemn as genocide the death of some 1.5
million Armenians between 1915 and 1917. Turkey rejects the claim,
saying the deaths were the result of wartime fighting.The resolution
will have no binding effect on U.S. foreign policy, but could shatter
an already strained relationship between Washington and Ankara.

The Bush administration opposes the resolution and has pressed
congressmen to reject it. Eight former U.S. secretaries of state —
including Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright —
have also written Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House
of Representatives, to ask her not to call a vote on the bill.

Last year, Turkey cut off military co-operation with France after
the French legislature moved to make it illegal to deny the Armenian
genocide.

Yesterday, the Turkish newspaper Sabah predicted Prime Minister Recep
Erdogan will threaten sanctions if the resolution is passed.

GENDRE ARMENIEN SANS REGRET: GENEVE. HONNEUR LAVE DANS LE SANG?

Le Temps. Suisse
10 octobre 2007

Le gendre du bijoutier armenien, inculpe pour avoir instigue le
meurtre rate du vieil homme, a plaide sa mise en liberte provisoire
mardi devant la Chambre d’accusation de Genève. Son avocate, Me
Doris Leuenberger, a releve la faiblesse des charges, insiste sur la
claustrophobie dont souffre l’interesse en cellule. La decision sera
rendue vendredi. En attendant, les parties se sont retrouvees pour
la première fois hier après-midi chez le juge d’instruction.

Egalement d’origine armenienne, le prevenu conteste avoir ordonne
ou suggere de tuer son beau-père. Le septuagenaire etait lui-meme
juge pour avoir tire sur sa propre fille lorsqu’il a ete la cible
d’un tireur en pleine rue. Atteint d’une balle dans le cou, il est
hospitalise depuis vendredi dernier dans un etat grave.

Suspecte dès le depart, le gendre a admis avoir souvent parle de
vengeance avec des compatriotes. "Il leur expliquait qu’il ne pouvait
pas le faire lui-meme car il ne supporterait pas la prison mais il
n’a jamais dit que d’autres devaient le faire a sa place", relève son
avocate. De son côte, Me Vincent Spira, conseil de la partie civile,
souligne que le prevenu a recemment rencontre deux de ces "gens qui
commettent des delits a travers l’Europe". Ils auraient dit qu’ils
"allaient le faire". Le gendre n’aurait rien repondu. Convaincu,
assure-t-il, qu’il s’agissait de paroles en l’air. Pourtant, souligne
Me Spira, il a bien invite l’un d’eux a venir voir l’etat de son
epouse. Un individu dont il refuse de reveler l’identite. L’interesse
aurait enfin declare lors de l’enquete que c’etait bien fait pour
son beau-père et que si quelqu’un avait lave l’honneur de sa famille,
il lui serait redevable a vie.

–Boundary_(ID_w60gy2M/ybFW5n5QK9BMjw)–