Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations
I have always stated that the US government, specifically the political/economic/social elite that run the country, is an enemy of the Armenian Republic. The reason why the Armenian Republic has not gone by the way of Serbia, Cyprus or Iraq is due to Armenia's close proximity, geographically and politically, to the Russian Federation and Iran. The well being and the security of the Armenian Republic is not within the strategic interests of the US government nor will it be so within the foreseeable future. I am in no way implicating the United States of America as a nation in this, nor am I implicating all elected politicians within America. As noted above, my comments are specifically directed towards the ruling elite, the political/economic establishment, within America.
In my opinion, the Armenian Republic will do well to distance itself from Washington DC and any other entity that is backed by or financed by Washington DC. We don't need their money, we don't need their expertise, we don't need their assistance. As I have stated on many occasions in the past accepting money from Washington DC is like accepting money from a loan shark. I have also stated that American financed NGOs in Armenia are nothing but US State Department/CIA run front offices. And US government backed Armenian entities such as the Armenian Assembly are nothing but traitors to the Armenian nation.
In short, the Armenian Republic does not fit into the grandiose agendas of Washington DC. The US government will not jeopardize its lucrative relations with major nations such as Turkey, Azerbaijan or Israel for the sake of a tiny landlocked impoverished nation. As a result, the Armenian nation should learn to pick sides more wisely. Recent issues revolving around the resolution bill in the US Congress concerning the Armenian Genocide, especially the anti-Armenian letter prepared by eight US Secretaries of State (unprecedented in its nature), is yet another glaring example of how seriously opposed upper echelons of the political elite within the United States are to matters that concern the Armenian nation.
And political matters such as these reveal the strategic reasoning, the sound logic, behind why official Yerevan looks towards Moscow for political/military/economic support. I am glad that these recent events will also serve to awaken more Armenians to the anti-Armenian nature of the ruling establishment within the United States.
Armenian
************************************************** *************************************
Former U.S. Secretaries of State oppose Armenian Genocide Resolution
Fearing an imminent vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106), Turkey’s multi-million dollar lobbyists have solicited the assistance of eight former U.S. Secretaries of State in seeking to derail this human rights legislation, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA.)
"Facing a growing bipartisan Congressional majority demanding passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, Turkey’s lobbyists - out of desperation and a never ending desire to squeeze more billing dollars out of Ankara – have turned to the very architects of our government’s failed policy of appeasing Turkey," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "Sadly, successive U.S. administrations have found themselves lacking the moral courage to end the cycle of genocide – from Cambodia, to Rwanda and, today in Darfur – precisely because of their legacy of caving in to, rather than confronting genocidal regimes."
"We are, as Americans, especially troubled that, in warning Congress not to make a simple anti-genocide statement for fear of upsetting Turkey, these officials would outsource our nation’s moral conscience to a foreign government," added Hamparian.
In their September 25th jointly-signed letter, former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, James Baker III, Warren Christopher, Laurence Eagleburger, Alexander Haig, Jr., Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, and George Schultz, urged Speaker Pelosi to, "prevent the resolution from reaching the House Floor," thereby denying House Members an opportunity to vote their conscience on the Armenian Genocide. The former State Department officials expressed concern that passage of the resolution "could endanger our national security interests in the region, including our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and damage efforts to promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey."
Source: http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=23490
Erdogan enlists U.S. J-e-ws’ support for opposing the Armenian Genocide Resolution
Turkey’s Prime Minister has used a meeting with representatives of the U.S. xxxish community to discuss ways of denial of Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Ottoman in 1915. Meeting with representatives of groups including the Conference of Presidents, the Appeal of Conscience, the Foundation, the Anti-Defamation League, the American xxxish Congress, and Bnai Brith International in New York late Wednesday Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the genocide recognition claims as “baseless and not supported by any scientific or historical grounding.”
"The Prime Minister also recalled Turkey’s call to Armenia to establish a joint commission to study historical facts, and stated that Turkey expected the xxxish community to confirm its support," a statement issued after the meeting said. Following the meeting, Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), said that “at times there could be disagreement between friends, referring to the League’s had accepted the events of 1915 as being tantamount to genocide.”
However, Foxman said that the issue should not be the subject of a resolution of the U.S. Congress. "We believe that a matter between Turkey and Armenia related to history should be tackled between the two parties, not in the U.S. Congress or the parliament of any other country," he said. "This is not a political matter and those in the Congress are not historians," he said. "I believe that we should focus on the future, not the past. If the xxxish community, the United States and the Congress are willing to assist they should bring together Turkey and Armenia for the grandchildren of the two parties,” he said, NTV MSNBC reports.
Source: http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=23507
US relations with Armenia at risk
The Bush administration has warned that Washington's relations with Turkey could be endangered and US troops in Iraq put at risk because of congressional legislation that denounces the mass killings of Armenians more than 80 years ago as genocide. The bill, which will be put to the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee on Wednesday, enjoys majority support and comes at a time when ties between Washington and Ankara are under severe strain. Turkey has launched a concerted effort to prevent passage of the bill, warning of serious consequences for bilateral relations. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, called President George W. Bush on Friday, and a delegation of Turkish MPs is in Washington to muster support against the resolution.
Dan Fried, the state department's top Europe official, said last week: "We think it would do grave harm both to US-Turkish relations and to US interests. It would hurt our forces deployed in Iraq, which rely on passage through Turkey . . . We have to be mindful of how much we depend and how much our troops and the Iraqi economy depend on shipments from and through Turkey."
Eight former US secretaries of state - including Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright - have written to Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, to ask her to prevent a vote on the issue. The bill has 226 co-sponsors. It calls on Mr Bush "to accurately characterise the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5m Armenians as genocide". The massacres were carried out by Ottoman troops beginning in 1915, before the creation of the republic of Turkey. Turkey rejects characterisation of the deaths as genocide and takes diplomatic and other measures against countries that adopt such a stance.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21183275/
Resolution on Armenia Genocide Opposed
WASHINGTON (AP) — Turkish and American officials have been pressing lawmakers to reject a measure next week that would declare the World War I-era killings of Armenians a genocide. On Friday, the issue reached the highest levels as President Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked by telephone about their opposition to the legislation, which is to go before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday. The dispute involves the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire.
Armenian advocates, backed by many historians, contend the Armenians died in an organized genocide. The Turks say the Armenians were victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the 600-year-old empire collapsed in the years before Turkey was born in 1923. Armenian supporters of the congressional measure, who seem to have enough votes to get approval by both the committee and the full House, have also been mustering a grass-roots campaign among the large diaspora community in the United States to make sure that a successful committee vote leads to consideration by the full House. One interest group, the Armenian National Committee of America, has engaged about 100,000 supporters to call lawmakers about the issue, according to Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
Similar measures have been debated in Congress for decades. But well-organized Armenian groups have repeatedly been thwarted by concerns about damaging relations with Turkey, an important NATO ally that has made its opposition clear. Lawmakers say that this time, the belief that the resolution has a chance to pass a vote by the full House has both Turkey and Armenian groups pulling out all stops to influence the members of the committee. "The lobbying has been the most intense that I have ever seen it," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Though the largely symbolic measure would have no binding effect on U.S. foreign policy, it could nonetheless damage an already strained relationship with Turkey. After France voted last year to make denial of Armenian genocide a crime, the Turkish government ended military ties. Many in the U.S. fear that a public backlash in Turkey could lead to restrictions on crucial supply routes through Turkey to Iraq and Afghanistan and the closure of Incirlik, a strategic air base in Turkey used by the United States. Lawmakers have been hearing arguments from both sides about those concerns. The Turkish government has been holding back from public threats while making clear that there will be consequences if the resolution is passed.
"There will be a backlash and no government can be indifferent to that," says the Turkish ambassador in Washington, Nabi Sensoy. But Armenian groups charge that behind the scenes, Turkey has been much more clear. "Turkey has been threatening every sort of doomsday scenario," says Hamparian. "We have been saying that Turkey would harm itself more than the United States if it carries through with these threats." Turkey argues that the House is the wrong institution to arbitrate a sensitive historical dispute. It has proposed that an international commission of experts examine Armenian and Turkish archives. In the meantime, the Turkish embassy has been in close contact with lawmakers and is using prominent U.S. lobbyists.
"I have redoubled my efforts," says Sensoy. Turkish lawmakers have also been manning the phones to congressional offices. According to one congressional aide, Turkey's military chief, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, has been calling lawmakers to argue that a vote will boost support for Islamists in Turkey. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The Bush administration has been telling lawmakers that the resolution, if passed, would harm U.S. security interests. Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said Friday that Bush believes the Armenian episode ranks among the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, but the determination whether "the events constitute a genocide should be a matter for historical inquiry, not legislation."
White House staff have also spoken with aides to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in the hope that she will stop the measure from coming to a vote.
"The administration has reached out to the speaker's office and made our position clear," he said. "We'll see what happens."
Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h...Xm1DAD8S3JKM81
I have always stated that the US government, specifically the political/economic/social elite that run the country, is an enemy of the Armenian Republic. The reason why the Armenian Republic has not gone by the way of Serbia, Cyprus or Iraq is due to Armenia's close proximity, geographically and politically, to the Russian Federation and Iran. The well being and the security of the Armenian Republic is not within the strategic interests of the US government nor will it be so within the foreseeable future. I am in no way implicating the United States of America as a nation in this, nor am I implicating all elected politicians within America. As noted above, my comments are specifically directed towards the ruling elite, the political/economic establishment, within America.
In my opinion, the Armenian Republic will do well to distance itself from Washington DC and any other entity that is backed by or financed by Washington DC. We don't need their money, we don't need their expertise, we don't need their assistance. As I have stated on many occasions in the past accepting money from Washington DC is like accepting money from a loan shark. I have also stated that American financed NGOs in Armenia are nothing but US State Department/CIA run front offices. And US government backed Armenian entities such as the Armenian Assembly are nothing but traitors to the Armenian nation.
In short, the Armenian Republic does not fit into the grandiose agendas of Washington DC. The US government will not jeopardize its lucrative relations with major nations such as Turkey, Azerbaijan or Israel for the sake of a tiny landlocked impoverished nation. As a result, the Armenian nation should learn to pick sides more wisely. Recent issues revolving around the resolution bill in the US Congress concerning the Armenian Genocide, especially the anti-Armenian letter prepared by eight US Secretaries of State (unprecedented in its nature), is yet another glaring example of how seriously opposed upper echelons of the political elite within the United States are to matters that concern the Armenian nation.
And political matters such as these reveal the strategic reasoning, the sound logic, behind why official Yerevan looks towards Moscow for political/military/economic support. I am glad that these recent events will also serve to awaken more Armenians to the anti-Armenian nature of the ruling establishment within the United States.
Armenian
************************************************** *************************************
Former U.S. Secretaries of State oppose Armenian Genocide Resolution
Fearing an imminent vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106), Turkey’s multi-million dollar lobbyists have solicited the assistance of eight former U.S. Secretaries of State in seeking to derail this human rights legislation, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA.)
"Facing a growing bipartisan Congressional majority demanding passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, Turkey’s lobbyists - out of desperation and a never ending desire to squeeze more billing dollars out of Ankara – have turned to the very architects of our government’s failed policy of appeasing Turkey," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "Sadly, successive U.S. administrations have found themselves lacking the moral courage to end the cycle of genocide – from Cambodia, to Rwanda and, today in Darfur – precisely because of their legacy of caving in to, rather than confronting genocidal regimes."
"We are, as Americans, especially troubled that, in warning Congress not to make a simple anti-genocide statement for fear of upsetting Turkey, these officials would outsource our nation’s moral conscience to a foreign government," added Hamparian.
In their September 25th jointly-signed letter, former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, James Baker III, Warren Christopher, Laurence Eagleburger, Alexander Haig, Jr., Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, and George Schultz, urged Speaker Pelosi to, "prevent the resolution from reaching the House Floor," thereby denying House Members an opportunity to vote their conscience on the Armenian Genocide. The former State Department officials expressed concern that passage of the resolution "could endanger our national security interests in the region, including our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and damage efforts to promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey."
Source: http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=23490
Erdogan enlists U.S. J-e-ws’ support for opposing the Armenian Genocide Resolution
Turkey’s Prime Minister has used a meeting with representatives of the U.S. xxxish community to discuss ways of denial of Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Ottoman in 1915. Meeting with representatives of groups including the Conference of Presidents, the Appeal of Conscience, the Foundation, the Anti-Defamation League, the American xxxish Congress, and Bnai Brith International in New York late Wednesday Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the genocide recognition claims as “baseless and not supported by any scientific or historical grounding.”
"The Prime Minister also recalled Turkey’s call to Armenia to establish a joint commission to study historical facts, and stated that Turkey expected the xxxish community to confirm its support," a statement issued after the meeting said. Following the meeting, Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), said that “at times there could be disagreement between friends, referring to the League’s had accepted the events of 1915 as being tantamount to genocide.”
However, Foxman said that the issue should not be the subject of a resolution of the U.S. Congress. "We believe that a matter between Turkey and Armenia related to history should be tackled between the two parties, not in the U.S. Congress or the parliament of any other country," he said. "This is not a political matter and those in the Congress are not historians," he said. "I believe that we should focus on the future, not the past. If the xxxish community, the United States and the Congress are willing to assist they should bring together Turkey and Armenia for the grandchildren of the two parties,” he said, NTV MSNBC reports.
Source: http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=23507
US relations with Armenia at risk
The Bush administration has warned that Washington's relations with Turkey could be endangered and US troops in Iraq put at risk because of congressional legislation that denounces the mass killings of Armenians more than 80 years ago as genocide. The bill, which will be put to the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee on Wednesday, enjoys majority support and comes at a time when ties between Washington and Ankara are under severe strain. Turkey has launched a concerted effort to prevent passage of the bill, warning of serious consequences for bilateral relations. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, called President George W. Bush on Friday, and a delegation of Turkish MPs is in Washington to muster support against the resolution.
Dan Fried, the state department's top Europe official, said last week: "We think it would do grave harm both to US-Turkish relations and to US interests. It would hurt our forces deployed in Iraq, which rely on passage through Turkey . . . We have to be mindful of how much we depend and how much our troops and the Iraqi economy depend on shipments from and through Turkey."
Eight former US secretaries of state - including Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright - have written to Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, to ask her to prevent a vote on the issue. The bill has 226 co-sponsors. It calls on Mr Bush "to accurately characterise the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5m Armenians as genocide". The massacres were carried out by Ottoman troops beginning in 1915, before the creation of the republic of Turkey. Turkey rejects characterisation of the deaths as genocide and takes diplomatic and other measures against countries that adopt such a stance.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21183275/
Resolution on Armenia Genocide Opposed
WASHINGTON (AP) — Turkish and American officials have been pressing lawmakers to reject a measure next week that would declare the World War I-era killings of Armenians a genocide. On Friday, the issue reached the highest levels as President Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked by telephone about their opposition to the legislation, which is to go before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday. The dispute involves the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire.
Armenian advocates, backed by many historians, contend the Armenians died in an organized genocide. The Turks say the Armenians were victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the 600-year-old empire collapsed in the years before Turkey was born in 1923. Armenian supporters of the congressional measure, who seem to have enough votes to get approval by both the committee and the full House, have also been mustering a grass-roots campaign among the large diaspora community in the United States to make sure that a successful committee vote leads to consideration by the full House. One interest group, the Armenian National Committee of America, has engaged about 100,000 supporters to call lawmakers about the issue, according to Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
Similar measures have been debated in Congress for decades. But well-organized Armenian groups have repeatedly been thwarted by concerns about damaging relations with Turkey, an important NATO ally that has made its opposition clear. Lawmakers say that this time, the belief that the resolution has a chance to pass a vote by the full House has both Turkey and Armenian groups pulling out all stops to influence the members of the committee. "The lobbying has been the most intense that I have ever seen it," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Though the largely symbolic measure would have no binding effect on U.S. foreign policy, it could nonetheless damage an already strained relationship with Turkey. After France voted last year to make denial of Armenian genocide a crime, the Turkish government ended military ties. Many in the U.S. fear that a public backlash in Turkey could lead to restrictions on crucial supply routes through Turkey to Iraq and Afghanistan and the closure of Incirlik, a strategic air base in Turkey used by the United States. Lawmakers have been hearing arguments from both sides about those concerns. The Turkish government has been holding back from public threats while making clear that there will be consequences if the resolution is passed.
"There will be a backlash and no government can be indifferent to that," says the Turkish ambassador in Washington, Nabi Sensoy. But Armenian groups charge that behind the scenes, Turkey has been much more clear. "Turkey has been threatening every sort of doomsday scenario," says Hamparian. "We have been saying that Turkey would harm itself more than the United States if it carries through with these threats." Turkey argues that the House is the wrong institution to arbitrate a sensitive historical dispute. It has proposed that an international commission of experts examine Armenian and Turkish archives. In the meantime, the Turkish embassy has been in close contact with lawmakers and is using prominent U.S. lobbyists.
"I have redoubled my efforts," says Sensoy. Turkish lawmakers have also been manning the phones to congressional offices. According to one congressional aide, Turkey's military chief, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, has been calling lawmakers to argue that a vote will boost support for Islamists in Turkey. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The Bush administration has been telling lawmakers that the resolution, if passed, would harm U.S. security interests. Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said Friday that Bush believes the Armenian episode ranks among the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, but the determination whether "the events constitute a genocide should be a matter for historical inquiry, not legislation."
White House staff have also spoken with aides to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in the hope that she will stop the measure from coming to a vote.
"The administration has reached out to the speaker's office and made our position clear," he said. "We'll see what happens."
Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h...Xm1DAD8S3JKM81
Comment