Author: Zakarian Garnik

Miami Herald, FL
Oct 20 2007

U.S. genocide resolution losing support

Support is declining in the House for a resolution declaring that the
deaths of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 was genocide
perpetrated by Turkey.

By MICHAEL DOYLE

WASHINGTON — An Armenian genocide resolution has fallen into
political limbo, with lawmakers continuing to abandon support but no
final decision made about its future.

By Friday, the number of co-sponsors for the resolution had slipped
to 211 from 226. The precipitous decline leaves supporters holding a
bad hand as they decide what to do next.

”I think they did miscalculate,” said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a
resolution opponent.

Hoping to shore up congressional support, the Armenian Assembly of
America and the Armenian National Committee of America will be flying
in supporters to Capitol Hill on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The activists will be ”meeting with as many members and staff as
possible,” said the Armenian Assembly’s executive director, Bryan
Ardouny.

”We’re as hopeful as we can be,” Spencer Pederson, a spokesman for
Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif., said Friday.

So far, though, supporters of the genocide resolution lack the votes
to win in the House of Representatives. Unless they can get them, the
measure won’t be brought up. This means resolution supporters
eventually may have to choose between letting the issue linger
without resolution or publicly acknowledging that they’ve lost for
the time being.

”Maybe it’s not going to happen right now,” Pederson said. “Maybe
now isn’t the right time.”

The resolution declares that 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the
Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. The resolution further states
that “the failure of the domestic and international authorities to
punish those responsible for the Armenian Genocide is a reason why
similar genocides have recurred and may recur in the future.”

The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 10 approved the
resolution 27-21, with several members having reversed their previous
support.

Turkish leaders acknowledge many deaths but say there was no
genocide, which international law defines as the intention to destroy
a national, ethnic or religious group.

Turkey’s lobbyists, as well as top Bush administration officials,
warn that the resolution could undermine Turkey’s cooperation with
the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Two more House members, Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and John
”Randy” Kuhl, R-N.Y. , dropped their support of the resolution on
Thursday.

Fourteen lawmakers have withdrawn their co-sponsorship since Monday.
The House didn’t meet on Friday, so there was no opportunity for
other members to formally withdraw.

With 432 House members at present, a bill requires 217 votes to pass
by simple majority. Bills often get far more votes on the floor than
they have formal co-sponsors, so the co-sponsorship list doesn’t
perfectly predict a vote’s outcome. On the other hand, close Capitol
Hill observers say they can’t recall the last time so many lawmakers
had withdrawn their co-sponsorship of a bill.

”The millions that Turkey has spent have paid dividends,”
acknowledged Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Turkey reports spending about $300,000 a month on lobbying. The
lobbyists include a former Republican chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee, Robert Livingston, as well as a former
House Democratic leader, Richard Gephardt.

Genocide resolution supporters consistently blame Turkey’s lobbying
campaign for the falloff in congressional support.

But a number of lawmakers who reversed their positions say they never
heard from the Turkish lobbyists, or were heeding other concerns.

Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif., for instance, credited his change of
heart to his own reflections and following the controversy through
media reports.

Another lawmaker, Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., said he changed his mind
about the resolution after Gen. David Petraeus, the armed forces
commander in Iraq, cautioned that it might threaten U.S. efforts in
Iraq.

”We have the truth on our side,” Schiff said, “but the truth
doesn’t always win.”

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AHN – All HEadline News
Oct 19 2007

U.S. Jews Put in the Middle of Armenian Genocide Resolution
October 19, 2007 6:41 a.m. EST

Isabelle Duerme – AHN News Writer
Lexington, Mass. (AHN) — The recently-proposed resolution condemning
the Turks of genocide to the Armenians has found itself to be a cause
of a cultural and political dilemma for U.S. Jewish communities.

U.S. Jews have been reportedly struggling to find their place between
their loyalty to Israel – a key ally of Turkey – and their commitment
to fight against genocide.

"It’s hard to talk about it because there are two things or more in
conflict here," the New York Times quoted Rabbi David Lerner. He
stated on one hand the importance to Israel of Turkey’s allegiance
and, on the other hand, the subject of genocide as "a burning issue"
in the history of the Jewish people.

Members of Turkey’s Jewish community have also been reportedly
fearing for their safety, as the accusation of Turkey committing
genocide on the Armenians have further angered the Turks.

"There have been insinuations that our security and well-being in
Turkey is linked to the [resolution’s] fate," Bloomberg quoted Jewish
leaders from a Washington Times ad, calling for the resolution’s
rejection.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan explained that Turkey’s
perception is that the Jews and the Armenians are hand-in-hand,
trying to defame the country.

The resolution proposed by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for
the condemnation of Turkey for committing genocide on the Armenian
people a century ago. The resolution has ignited the anger of Turkey,
and has gathered negative comments from members of Congress.

While the resolution’s power of influence has started to fade, it has
left a stinging feeling on the Turkish government, causing the
pullout of Turkish ambassadors from Washington and the threat to
deprive the U.S of important logistical support for the Iraq war, as
reported by the New York Times.

Hayots Ashkharh Daily, Armenia
Oct 19 2007

POSTPONING THE VOTING NOT TO BECOME A TRAGEDY

The results of the recent discussions between the US Legislative
and Executive Powers prompt that the final adoption of Resolution #
106 by the House of Representatives may be postponed for a certain
period of time.
In our previous analyses we predicted the possibility of such
developments and arrived at the conclusion that the moment of the
Resolution’s final adoption must strictly coincide with the
developments observed in Iraq and the critical stage of the
Turkish-American relations resulting thereof. It was clear from the
outset that by the October 10 voting of the Foreign Affairs
Committee, the US legislator did not actually comply with the demands
of the Armenian Lobby; they just took a preventive step in order to
restrain Turkey which had deployed its troops on the Iraqi border.
An interval for the period of half a month has now been declared
in the Turkish-American confrontation around Northern Iraq. In such
conditions it is natural that none of the parties will take a new
step leading to the deterioration of the relations. Therefore, the
decreasing number of the Congressmen supporting the Armenian Genocide
Resolution is not accidental.
Does this mean that the state of euphoria observed after October
10 will continue to remain prevalent in our reality, so that we will
have to wait for the victory of the Armenian Lobby or, on the
contrary, insist that the adoption of Resolution # 106 by the Foreign
Affairs Committee did not bring any use to us, and the US legislators
made the successive deceitful step against the Armenian nation.
We believe both viewpoints currently discussed in our reality are
unilateral and definitely prejudiced. Enthusiasm or disappointment
can arise only in those people who have so far held the viewpoint
that all our achievements are due to the international politics’
being an important factor. And now they cannot give up that idea, or,
on the contrary, deny the inevitably of the positive consequences
resulting from the adoption of the Resolution.
Instead of being guided by such superficial and definitely
politicized assessments, it is necessary to make accurate
calculations of the proper moment for passing Resolution #106 by the
US House of Representatives. It is clear that the crisis observed in
the Turkish-American relations is caused by objective factors, and
they will not disappear even if Prime Minister R.T. Erdoghan visits
Washington 100 times. And Ankara’s open desire to deploy its troops
in the Iraqi Kurdistan bears absolutely no relation the intention of
killing the PKK rebels.
Therefore, the issue is whether Turkey will manage, under the
threat of invasion, to postpone the implementation of the Iraqi
Federalization program which has already been approved by the Senate,
and if so, for what period of time. On the other hand, there’s the
following issue: whether the United States will manage, under the
threat of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, to make a
persistent country like Turkey gradually put up with the
implementation of the Iraqi Federalization Program and hence – the
prospect of creating the independent state of Kurdistan.
Perhaps, there will be temporary `ceasefires’ in the
Turkish-American relations in the near future, but they will
inevitably be followed by a new, deepening crisis. So, from the angle
of the primary task of promoting the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide, there is currently no need to display any signs of
dissatisfaction or impatience. On the contrary, Resolution # 106 must
be put to vote at the moment when the House of Representatives
unanimously favors its adoption.
It is clear that the factions favoring the adoption of Resolution
# 106 by the Foreign Affairs Committee and especially the Democrats
currently beware of abrupt steps since they are, by and large,
gaining advantage in the game against the ruling Administration. Both
the Jewish Lobby of the United States and Israel, which unnoticeably
advances the issue of forming the state of Kurdistan, have appeared
in an advantageous situation too. So, they both need time for
imparting a smooth course to the change of the US policy and holding
the demonstrations around the status of Kirkouk.
Afterwards, when there is inevitably a new crisis in terms of the
Iraqi American policy on the one hand and the Turkish-American
relations on the other, the Armenian side will have no difficulty
ensuring an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives and
achieving the final adoption of Resolution # 106.

VARDAN GRIGORYAN

PRESIDENT ACCUSES DEMOCRATS OF ACHIEVING LITTLE AT CAPITOL
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg

New York Times, NY
Oct 18 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 – A year after he pledged to find "common ground"
with the Democrats who now control Congress, President Bush on
Wednesday delivered a scathing assessment of their performance,
accusing lawmakers of dragging their feet on legislation ranging
from trade deals and domestic surveillance to federal spending and
children’s health.

"We’re now more than halfway through October, and the new leaders in
Congress have had more than nine months to get things done for the
American people," Mr. Bush said in his opening remarks at a White
House news conference. "Unfortunately, they haven’t managed to pass
many important bills. Now the clock is winding down, and in some key
areas Congress is just getting started."

The news conference was timed to coincide with a showdown between
Mr. Bush and Congressional Democrats over federal spending and a
children’s health measure he has vetoed. At one point, the president
complained bitterly that Democrats had failed to negotiate with him
over the health bill, a different version of which had been advanced
by the administration in its budget.

"We weren’t dialed in," he said, adding that he was using his veto
pen because "that’s one way to ensure that I am relevant."

The remark echoed one by Mr. Bush’s immediate predecessor, Bill
Clinton, who proclaimed after Republicans took control of the House
in 1995 that "the president is still relevant here." It was especially
striking coming from Mr. Bush, who often insists, as he did Wednesday,
that he is going to "sprint to the finish" of his presidency.

When pressed about whether he felt he was losing leverage on Capitol
Hill, the president quickly disagreed.

"Quite the contrary," he said. "I’ve never felt more engaged."

On Wednesday, getting engaged meant dressing down Democrats,
with whom Mr. Bush is at odds over a host of domestic measures. In
addition to the children’s health legislation, he has threatened to
veto at least 10 of the 12 spending bills that were supposed to have
been enacted by Sept. 30 to finance government operations in the new
fiscal year. And while he said he still thought he could find common
ground with Democrats, he also took swipes at them for having so far
failed to send any of those bills to his desk.

"I think it’s their fault the bills aren’t moving," Mr. Bush said at
one point. At another, he asked, "How can you find common ground when
there’s no appropriations process?"

The House is expected to try on Thursday to override the veto of
the children’s health bill. The president predicted – and Democrats
agree – that the effort will be unsuccessful. Mr. Bush said he was
"confident we can work out our differences" on the bill, adding that
"now is the time to put politics aside."

Yet in the next breath, he offered a list of areas where Congress "has
work to do," including the budget, domestic surveillance, education,
housing, trade, veterans’ care and the confirmation of judicial
nominees. He finished by accusing lawmakers of meddling where they
did not belong, with a proposed House resolution condemning Turkey
for the mass killing of Armenians nearly a century ago.

"With all these pressing responsibilities," Mr. Bush said, "one thing
Congress should not be doing is sorting out the historical record of
the Ottoman Empire."

The remarks were a distinct turnabout from the promises to reach out
that the president made after last year’s midterm elections.

Democrats, in turn, reacted angrily.

"There is no better example of why Washington is not working for the
American people than the president claiming to seek common ground
at the same time he is bitterly attacking Congress," Speaker Nancy
Pelosi said in a statement.

A little more than an hour after the news conference ended, Mr. Bush
and Ms. Pelosi stood side by side, shaking hands politely as they
greeted each other at a ceremony to award the Congressional Gold
Medal to the Dalai Lama.

WAR, PEACE, POLITICS AND TURKEY’S CHOICE

Wall Street Journal
Oct 17 2007

The Morning Brief, a look at the day’s biggest news, is emailed to
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The Turkish government today is on the verge of getting parliamentary
approval for military strikes at Turkish Kurdish rebels in Iraq —
a scenario feared by war critics since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion
and one reverberating around the region and back to Washington.

Parliamentary debate in Ankara — somewhat of a formality considering
the popular support for retaliation among most Turks — is set to
start at 8 a.m. ET.

Turkish leaders have said an incursion wouldn’t immediately follow
legislative consent, and diplomacy aimed at averting an actual
offensive was in play on several fronts. A military operation into the
Kurdish region of northern Iraq could play havoc with Iraq’s already
messy politics and stir trouble in what has been the most peaceful
part of the country. "An invasion would raise a host of messy issues
for Baghdad as it struggles to exert control amid bloody, sectarian
conflict," The Wall Street Journal notes, especially since Iraqi Kurd
security forces are "overwhelmed from guarding the border with the rest
of Iraq to prevent infiltration by Sunni Arab extremists." Moreover,
the landlocked region relies on Turkey for many of its imports and
will need Turkish pipelines to ship out its oil, the Journal adds.

Turkey’s NATO-qualified military is probably strongest in the region —
with the exception, perhaps, of U.S. forces there. And in the past,
Ankara has used threats of military action to make Syria curb Kurdish
activity on its side of the border. Iraqi leaders may be hoping
the current bellicosity is just a threat, for now, and Iraqi Vice
President Tariq al-Hashimi yesterday traveled to Turkey to seek the
chance to stop rebels from the PKK — the Kurdistan Workers Party —
"who cross the border before Turkey takes any step," he said. And after
meeting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr. Hashimi added:
"I got what I wanted from our talks. There is a new atmosphere to
stop the current crisis."

The spike in Turkish-Iraqi tension — which helped push oil prices
to a new record yesterday, as the Journal reports — comes when the
region is already the subject of several different geopolitical power
plays. Yesterday in Tehran, for example, Russian President Putin helped
forge an alliance of Caspian Sea nations who oppose the prospect of
any Western military action against Iran, even as he pledged to help
complete an internationally controversial Iranian nuclear plant,
as the Times of London reports. Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and
Turkmenistan, along with Russia, agreed to keep other countries from
using their territories for military strikes against another of the
group, with Mr. Putin asserting "It is important …

that we not only not use any kind of force but also do not even think
about the possibility of using force." But officials in Ankara probably
had their eyes more on Washington than Tehran.

Street demonstration in Turkey suggest opposition to a U.S. genocide
label on the mass killings of ethnic Armenians nearly a century ago
is at least as heartfelt there as support for retaliation against
the PKK. And American leverage over longtime ally Turkey has been
weakened by congressional consideration of the House resolution
that would declare the Armenians’ deaths genocide. Recognition of
the resolution’s cost back in Turkey is apparently responsible for a
sudden waning of support in the House, and a dozen House members from
both parties shifted against the measure over 24 hours, the New York
Times reports. "Some made clear that they were heeding warnings from
the White House, which has called the measure dangerously provocative,
and from the Turkish government, which has said House passage would
prompt Turkey to reconsider its ties to the United States, including
logistical support for the Iraq war," the Times said. Others said that
"while they deplored the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman
Empire, the modern-day consequences in the Middle East could not
be overlooked."

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RUBEN SAFRASTIAN DOES NOT EXCLUDE THAT TURKEY MAY MAKE VISA REGIME FOR CITIZENS OF ARMENIA MORE STRICT

Noyan Tapan
Oct 17 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Egemen Bagic, the Foreign Relations
Advisor to the Prime Minister of Turkey, declared the other day that
Turkey will introduce sanctions against Armenia in connection with
the adoption of Resolution 106 on the Armenian Genocide by the Foreign
Relations Commission of the U.S. House of Representatives. According
to the information provided to a Noyan Tapan correspondent by Ruben
Safrastian, the Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the
National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, the Turkish political elite
repeatedly made statements in the press threatening Armenia yet before
the Commission started to consider that issue.

Commenting on the recent statements of Turkish high-ranking officials,
Ruben Safrastian regarded the threats of the Turkish side as absurd. He
found difficulty in saying what actions Turkey may undertake against
Armenia.

Ruben Safrastian considered the prohibition placed on the export of
Turkish goods into Armenia through a third country as not real. In
addition to this, he did not exclude that Turkey may take measures
for making the visa regime for the citizens of Armenia more strict.

NATO AGAINST TURKEY INCURSION INTO IRAQ

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.10.2007 18:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has
spoken to Turkey’s President and added his voice to international
calls for restraint in the crisis with Iraq, the alliance’s chief
spokesman said Wednesday.

"All parties should exercise the greatest possible restraint precisely
at this time of great tension," said NATO spokesman James Appathurai.

Turkey’s parliament is expected to approve later Wednesday a possible
cross-border military incursion into northern Iraq to chase separatist
Kurdish rebels blamed for terrorist attacks in Turkey.

Appathurai said de Hoop Scheffer had spoken to President Abdullah
Gul late Tuesday to pass on condolences for deadly attacks on Turkey,
which is a NATO member. "He has expressed his understanding for the
great pressure on Turkish society as a result of these regular losses,"
Appathurai told reporters.

He stressed that NATO supports Turkey’s view that the Kurdistan
Workers Party, or PKK, is a terrorist organization, The Associated
Press reports.

COUNCIL OF PLOVDIV COMMUNITIES RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BY OVERWHELMING MAJORITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.10.2007 19:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The council of communities of Plovdiv, Bulgaria,
recognized the Armenian Genocide by overwhelming majority. The motion
was initiated by the Committee on European integration, international
relations and youth.

It also called on the Bulgarian parliament to recognize the Armenian
Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, RA MFA reported.

BUSH CALLS FOR NO VOTE ON ARMENIA RESOLUTION
Editor: Mu Xuequan

Xinhua, China
Oct 17 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) — U.S. President George W. Bush
reiterated on Wednesday his call for the Congress not to vote on a
resolution branding the 1915-1917 killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks a "genocide."

"One thing Congress should not be doing is sorting out the historical
record of the Ottoman Empire." Bush told a press conference at the
White House.

"Congress has more important work to do than antagonizing a democratic
ally in the Muslim world, especially one that’s providing vital
support for our military every day," he said.

Turkey has condemned the "genocide" bill and recalled its ambassador
back to Turkey for consultation over the matter, a sign of exasperated
U.S.-Turkey tension over the issue.

NEARLY 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE WITH POOR EYESIGHT LIVE IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Oct 16 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 16, NOYAN TAPAN. On the initiative of the World
Health Organization (WHO), starting 1998, the second Thursday of
October is marked as World Eyesight Day, the goal of which is to draw
public attention to problems of blindness and poor eyesight. As Noyan
Tapan correspondent was informed by the Office of the Armenian Ocular
Project, this year it was marked on October 11. The importance of
prevention of children’s blindness and eyesight problems was stressed
during the event.

Though more than 75% eyesight problems can be avoided by early
revelation, prevention or treatment of the disease, nevertheless,
the number of people with poor eyesight is rather large. Currently
124 million people suffer from poor eyesight in the world, and the
number such people in Armenia is nearly 50 thousand.

According to oculists’ observations, one among 4 school-age and 20
pre-school-age children has serious eyesight problems in Armenia,
which can cause loss of eyesight. Children mainly suffer from myopia,
long-sightedness, strabismus, cataract, glaucoma. Nearly 90% children’s
eye diseases are curable if diagnosed early.