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Re: George Bush =Armenian Genocide Denier
From USATODAY:
Is old Armenia issue worth riling Turkey?
The Cincinnati Post in an editorial: "Other than placating (its) Armenian-American constituents, it's hard to tell what interest the House Foreign Affairs Committee thought it was serving when it approved, 27-21, a non-binding, wholly symbolic resolution condemning as genocide the deaths of over a million Armenians when the Ottoman Empire expelled them from eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1923. ... The resolution infuriated modern Turkey, which, as President Bush and eight former secretaries of State of both parties pointed out, is a vital NATO ally. ... If the Turks are ... truly angry they can legitimately cause us a lot of trouble in Iraq. ... The expulsion of the Armenians is a part of its history that Turkey has never come to grips with, and even today reconciliation talks between Turkey and Armenia are moving very slowly — but nonetheless moving — unless this resolution impedes them."
Portland (Maine) Press Herald, in an editorial: "Modern Turkey is an important ally, a moderate Muslim country with a secular government in one of the most sensitive areas of the world. It has a border with Iraq, and its airspace and bases have been used to supply our forces in that country. ... Why should Congress act now, when it is clearly upsetting to the present Turkish government? The answer is simple. We should call it genocide because that is the truth. ... The (committee) was right to pursue this issue now. Given Turkey's place on the globe, there will probably never be a good time. If genocide is a charge that can only be applied to our enemies, it loses all meaning. The United States must be willing, when appropriate, to use it against its friends if our country is to retain any moral authority in matters of international law."
Chicago Tribune, in an editorial: "There is no shortage of pressing issues deserving of congressional attention. ... But (this) week, some members were fixated on the distant past, examining terrible events that occurred some 90 years ago during the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. ... A political stunt like this will not bring back the dead or punish the guilty. All it does is antagonize the people and government of Turkey, who have been of crucial help to our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. ... It suggests that Congress is fundamentally unserious."
Richard Cohen, columnist, The Washington Post: "I would feel a lot better about condemning this resolution if the argument wasn't so much about how we need Turkey and not at all about the truthfulness of the matter. ... It was done by a government that no longer exists. ... Even in 1915, it was an anachronism. ... Its troops were starving, and ... indigenous peoples were declaring their independence and rising in rebellion. Among them were the Armenians. ... By World War I, they were aiding Turkey's enemy, Russia. Within Turkey, Armenians were feared as a fifth column. ... So contemporary Turkey is entitled to insist that things are not so simple. If you use the word genocide, it suggests the Holocaust — and that is not what happened in the Ottoman Empire. But Turkey has gone beyond mere quibbling with a word. It has taken issue with the facts and in ways that cannot be condoned. ... Call it genocide or call it something else, but there is only one thing to call Turkey's insistence that it and its power will determine the truth: unacceptable."
The Boston Globe, in an editorial: "A resolution before Congress has provoked an upsurge of nationalism that threatens U.S. interests and would do nothing to lift Turkey's willful amnesia. It should not be pursued at this time. ... The Turks need to begin an honest dialogue about the birth of their nation. ... Others can help by reminding Turkey, in non-governmental settings, about the reality of the genocide and by supporting Turks willing to examine their past. Europeans are positioned to take the lead because of Turkey's aspirations to join the European Union. The House resolution, by inciting the worst aspects of Turkish nationalism and creating government-to-government friction, would delay a reckoning with history."
Source: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/...-armenia-.html
From USATODAY:
Is old Armenia issue worth riling Turkey?
The Cincinnati Post in an editorial: "Other than placating (its) Armenian-American constituents, it's hard to tell what interest the House Foreign Affairs Committee thought it was serving when it approved, 27-21, a non-binding, wholly symbolic resolution condemning as genocide the deaths of over a million Armenians when the Ottoman Empire expelled them from eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1923. ... The resolution infuriated modern Turkey, which, as President Bush and eight former secretaries of State of both parties pointed out, is a vital NATO ally. ... If the Turks are ... truly angry they can legitimately cause us a lot of trouble in Iraq. ... The expulsion of the Armenians is a part of its history that Turkey has never come to grips with, and even today reconciliation talks between Turkey and Armenia are moving very slowly — but nonetheless moving — unless this resolution impedes them."
Portland (Maine) Press Herald, in an editorial: "Modern Turkey is an important ally, a moderate Muslim country with a secular government in one of the most sensitive areas of the world. It has a border with Iraq, and its airspace and bases have been used to supply our forces in that country. ... Why should Congress act now, when it is clearly upsetting to the present Turkish government? The answer is simple. We should call it genocide because that is the truth. ... The (committee) was right to pursue this issue now. Given Turkey's place on the globe, there will probably never be a good time. If genocide is a charge that can only be applied to our enemies, it loses all meaning. The United States must be willing, when appropriate, to use it against its friends if our country is to retain any moral authority in matters of international law."
Chicago Tribune, in an editorial: "There is no shortage of pressing issues deserving of congressional attention. ... But (this) week, some members were fixated on the distant past, examining terrible events that occurred some 90 years ago during the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. ... A political stunt like this will not bring back the dead or punish the guilty. All it does is antagonize the people and government of Turkey, who have been of crucial help to our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. ... It suggests that Congress is fundamentally unserious."
Richard Cohen, columnist, The Washington Post: "I would feel a lot better about condemning this resolution if the argument wasn't so much about how we need Turkey and not at all about the truthfulness of the matter. ... It was done by a government that no longer exists. ... Even in 1915, it was an anachronism. ... Its troops were starving, and ... indigenous peoples were declaring their independence and rising in rebellion. Among them were the Armenians. ... By World War I, they were aiding Turkey's enemy, Russia. Within Turkey, Armenians were feared as a fifth column. ... So contemporary Turkey is entitled to insist that things are not so simple. If you use the word genocide, it suggests the Holocaust — and that is not what happened in the Ottoman Empire. But Turkey has gone beyond mere quibbling with a word. It has taken issue with the facts and in ways that cannot be condoned. ... Call it genocide or call it something else, but there is only one thing to call Turkey's insistence that it and its power will determine the truth: unacceptable."
The Boston Globe, in an editorial: "A resolution before Congress has provoked an upsurge of nationalism that threatens U.S. interests and would do nothing to lift Turkey's willful amnesia. It should not be pursued at this time. ... The Turks need to begin an honest dialogue about the birth of their nation. ... Others can help by reminding Turkey, in non-governmental settings, about the reality of the genocide and by supporting Turks willing to examine their past. Europeans are positioned to take the lead because of Turkey's aspirations to join the European Union. The House resolution, by inciting the worst aspects of Turkish nationalism and creating government-to-government friction, would delay a reckoning with history."
Source: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/...-armenia-.html
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