'07 US Armenian Genocide Bill news

[Alexandros]

Decrease of number of Congressmen backing H.Res.106 doesn’t give cause for anxiety


17.10.2007 13:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Decrease of the number of Congressmen supporting the Armenian Genocide Resolution is not a cause for anxiety, ARF Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office Director, Kiro Manoyan told a PanARMENIAN. Net reporter during a news conference in Yerevan.

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bring the resolution to the floor anyway. The fact that seven Congressmen have recalled their signatures means nothing. It’s not ruled out that the resolution will be backed by more Congressmen than we expect,” he said.

The U.S. administration and Turkish lobbyists are severely pressing on Congressmen, he added.

On 16 October 7 Congressmen under the pressure of the Turkish lobby refused to support the Armenian Genocide resolution, thus cutting the number of co-sponsors to 219.

AAA Country Director for Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, Apri Vartanian said a resolution is put on vote even if it’s backed by one Congressman. “Support of 218 Congressmen comprises the necessary majority for adoption of a document in the House of Representatives,” she said.

source

[Joseph]

Decrease of number of Congressmen backing H.Res.106 doesn’t give cause for anxiety


17.10.2007 13:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Decrease of the number of Congressmen supporting the Armenian Genocide Resolution is not a cause for anxiety, ARF Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office Director, Kiro Manoyan told a PanARMENIAN. Net reporter during a news conference in Yerevan.

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bring the resolution to the floor anyway. The fact that seven Congressmen have recalled their signatures means nothing. It’s not ruled out that the resolution will be backed by more Congressmen than we expect,” he said.

The U.S. administration and Turkish lobbyists are severely pressing on Congressmen, he added.

On 16 October 7 Congressmen under the pressure of the Turkish lobby refused to support the Armenian Genocide resolution, thus cutting the number of co-sponsors to 219.

AAA Country Director for Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, Apri Vartanian said a resolution is put on vote even if it’s backed by one Congressman. “Support of 218 Congressmen comprises the necessary majority for adoption of a document in the House of Representatives,” she said.

source

I'm pessimistic that the bill will pass but we should keep up the effort regardless. Our efforts increasing pressure on Turkey and by doing so, the cahnces of them getting angrier and doing something stupid regarding their relatiosn with the US increase. We are already starting to see it. We will keep trying year after year until it passes...and eventually it will.

In 2000, it passed the House Foreign Relations Committee, passed the House vote, and then moved to the Senate where it had the votes but Clinton and Hastert colluded to have the bill essentially tabled.

I don't think we are any closer than we were in 2000 but on the flipside, all the publicity has helped our cause and if you have noticed, the paradigm has shifted. More and more, both Republicans and Democrats, Conservatives and Liberals, etc while not necessarily behind the resolution (mainly due to its timing) have basically stated that what happened is a genocide and the Turks are wrong. Only minor victory but it is paving the way for a future passage of an Armenian Genocide resolution.

[Gavur]

I'm pessimistic that the bill will pass but we should keep up the effort regardless. Our efforts increasing pressure on Turkey and by doing so, the cahnces of them getting angrier and doing something stupid regarding their relatiosn with the US increase. We are already starting to see it. We will keep trying year after year until it passes...and eventually it will.

In 2000, it passed the House Foreign Relations Committee, passed the House vote, and then moved to the Senate where it had the votes but Clinton and Hastert colluded to have the bill essentially tabled.

I don't think we are any closer than we were in 2000 but on the flipside, all the publicity has helped our cause and if you have noticed, the paradigm has shifted. More and more, both Republicans and Democrats, Conservatives and Liberals, etc while not necessarily behind the resolution (mainly due to its timing) have basically stated that what happened is a genocide and the Turks are wrong. Only minor victory but it is paving the way for a future passage of an Armenian Genocide resolution.

Our victory will be in getting our voice heard on the floor,up or down !!!

[Tongue]

House Speaker Now Unsure if Armenian Genocide Motion Will Reach a Vote

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she was reconsidering her pledge to force a vote on a resolution condemning as genocide the mass killing of Armenians starting in 1915, as President Bush intensified his push to derail the legislation.


Representative Alcee L. Hastings of Florida, left, an opponent of the Armenian proposal, conferring with three other House Democrats, some of whom also expressed doubts: from left, Robert Wexler of Florida, and John Tanner and Steve Cohen, both of Tennessee.

“Whether it will come up or not and what the action will be remains to be seen,” Ms. Pelosi said in light of the decline in support for the proposal, which, though nonbinding, has angered Turkey and raised fears that the Turkish government could reduce its strategic cooperation with the United States.

The comments by the speaker, a key supporter of the measure, added to growing evidence that modern-day pragmatism was overwhelming supporters’ demands that the House render a historical verdict on the killings of the Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

Mr. Bush, who as a candidate in 2000 criticized what he called a “genocidal campaign” against the Armenians, said lawmakers had better things to do than be caught up in the past, pursuing legislation that has unsettled an important ally.

“With all these pressing responsibilities, one thing Congress should not be doing is sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire,” Mr. Bush said. “Congress has more important work to do than antagonizing a democratic ally in the Muslim world, especially one that is providing vital support for our military every day.”

Backers of the resolution said they would push ahead despite mounting opposition and try to rally support for the declaration, which they said was essential to deter future genocide and protect America’s credibility in speaking out against brutality in places like Darfur and Myanmar.

It also was not lost on them that Mr. Bush was willing to risk upsetting China by honoring the Dalai Lama in a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in an expression of support for democracy and human rights.

“As we take this principled moral stand in defiance of the Chinese government, we must similarly be willing to speak out on the Armenian genocide,” said a statement issued by the six chief sponsors of the House resolution. “If we as a nation are to be a moral leader around the world, we must have the courage to recognize genocide whenever and wherever it occurs.”

One of those sponsors, Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, acknowledged that the resolution had split Jewish lawmakers, with some backing the resolution and others pointing to the risk to Israel should Turkey’s role as a stabilizing force in the region be diminished. He said it would be tragic if Israel’s security became a rationale for not recognizing a case of genocide.

“There is no nexus, but Turkey would like to make one,” he said.

A group of House Democrats pointed more to Turkey’s continuing cooperation in the war in Iraq in urging Ms. Pelosi to refrain from scheduling any vote on the proposal, which they said would not pass in the current environment.

“I’ve got the compassion for the people, the Armenians that are fighting for their ancestors,” said Representative Steve Cohen, a Tennessee Democrat who visited Iraq this month. “But these are real-life situations, and sometimes your heart has to give in to your head and do what makes sense for your country.”

Other lawmakers questioned whether it was wise for Congress to pass judgment on the behavior of other nations when it had yet to weigh in on some of its own, like the treatment of American Indians in the settlement of the continent.

“All the time when we won, it was a victory, and when they won, it was a massacre,” Representative Alcee L. Hastings, a Florida Democrat who opposes the genocide resolution, said of the Indians. “Yet they were the ones being chased all the way across the country, and no one has ever apologized to them.”

Congress occasionally embarks on delicate historical issues with foreign policy implications. It did so this year when it approved a resolution calling for Japan to acknowledge using women from occupied territories as sex slaves during World War II. The vote angered Japanese officials, but their objections failed to persuade the House to drop the matter.

Armenian-Americans saw parallels in the vote on the Japanese issue and the Armenian proposal, and they urged the House to move ahead.

“It is shameful and hypocritical that the Bush administration would cede our moral authority in condemning genocide, thereby becoming an enabler in Turkey’s worldwide multimillion-dollar campaign of genocide denial,” said a statement from the Armenian National Committee of America, which painted Turkey as an unreliable ally.

But opponents of the resolution said that if Turkey should be lost as a partner, any effort to bring the war in Iraq to a close could be greatly complicated.

“This is not about Turkey, pro-Turkey or anti-Armenia, or vice versa,” said Representative John Tanner, Democrat of Tennessee. “From my perspective, it is about the United States being able to bring a swift — hopefully — resolution to this conflict in Iraq.”

Mr. Schiff, who had appeared close to expecting House approval of the resolution after an initial victory in the Foreign Affairs Committee last week, seemed resigned that it now might not prevail in light of the push from the administration, Turkey’s government, lobbyists retained by Turkey and worried lawmakers.

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

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/washington/18cong.html?ref=europe

[Gavur]

2 bit politicians and sons the Zionists attacking the liquifyed bones of our family.

[Gavur]

ANCA Special Report: Call for JusticeEducate. Motivate.Activate.

ANCA Special Report: Call for Justice
Educate. Motivate. Activate.

Sunday, October 21st, 2007
5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. (PST)
Horizon 24 Hours Armenian TV

watch online at wwww.horizonarmeniantv.com

Call Your Congressman and Urge them to Support the Genocide Resolution (H. Res. 106)

You've watched the stories on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and every other broadcast news channel, and read the coverage on the front page of America's most influential newspapers.
Because of you - America is finally talking about the Armenian Genocide and Turkey's shameless denial of this brutal crime.
Because of you--and activists like you across America--the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the Armenian Genocide resolution (H.Res.106) by a vote of 27 to 21--setting the stage for a vote any day now of all 435 Members of the House of Representatives.
As we work to bring America back to the right side on this important moral issue, I want to share with you how very much all of us at the ANCA value and appreciate your time, your devotion, and your commitment to truth.
Please take 2 minutes right now to make a quick and easy phone call urging YOUR CONGRESSMAN to VOTE YES on H.RES.106 when it comes to the House Floor.
If you have already contacted your Representative, please call again.
The phone number and a sample phone script for the call is provided below, for your convenience.
Please call now and forward this message to as many friends and family as possible. Once you've made your call, please email us at [email protected] with any feedback you've received. If you have questions, please call us at (202) 775-1918.

Contact: House Switchboard
Phone Number: (202) 225-3121

Sample Phone Script:
[The phone will likely be answered by a receptionist. Ask this person to take a message from you for the Representative. If you are calling over the weekend or after office hours just leave a voice-mail message.]
Hello, my name is YOUR NAME and I live in YOUR CITY.
I am calling to encourage my Representative to vote YES on H.RES.106-- the Armenian Genocide Resolution -- and to encourage his/her House colleagues to do the same.
*This bipartisan, genocide-prevention legislation is cosponsored by more than half the House (224 Members from 39 different states).
*Forty (40) U.S. states have recognized the Armenian Genocide.
Genocide must be condemned whenever and wherever it occurs. We cannot afford to let foreign governments bully us into genocide denial.

http://www.asbarez.com/

Monday, October 15, 2007

[Hovik]

Turkey's row with U.S. over Iraq may hit lira hard

By Selcuk Gokoluk - Analysis

ANKARA (Reuters) - A row between Turkey and its most powerful ally the United States over Ankara's plans to send troops into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels could dent much-needed foreign investment and hit the lira hard.

The high-yielding lira has fallen 3.3 percent this week against the dollar from six-year highs due to the Iraq issue, but economists say it could drop much more if Turkey defies Washington and sends its forces across the border.

Turkey lured a record $20.1 billion (9.81 billion pounds) FDI last year, and hopes to attract a similar amount this year.

Investors know an incursion into northern Iraq would further test relations with Washington, already strained after a U.S. Congress committee branded the 1915 killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide, a view Ankara firmly rejects.

"If Turkey launches a large-scale operation, defying American opposition, then all markets will be hit by this... The markets believe the tensions are a good excuse to sell at the moment but the price of a serious clash will be higher," Fortis bank chief economist Haluk Burumcekci.

Emotions are running high in Turkey after a sharp rise in the number of Turkish soldiers killed in Kurdish rebel attacks. Parliament is due on Wednesday to approve a cabinet request to allow troops to enter Iraq if this is deemed necessary.

Washington's backing has been crucial for Turkey receiving International Monetary Fund loans to recover from a deep economic crisis in 2001 and for building energy pipelines that cut cross Turkey from the Caspian region to Europe.

Turkey in turn has served U.S. interests as a strategic partner in the turbulent Middle East region and as a model of stable democracy for the wider Muslim world. Washington relies heavily on Turkey for logistical support for its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"If relations with the United States deteriorate permanently, then this could lower foreign direct investment. If this is coupled with a souring in global liquidity conditions, then Turkey will be hit harder," said Garanti Bank's head of research Ali Ihsan Gelberi.

A large balance of payments deficit leaves Turkey dependent on foreign investments.

It is not possible to predict the level of the lira in the event of a serious spat with Washington, economists said.

"The figures will depend on how many billions of lira foreigners will sell and more important than that, on how many dollars Turkish residents will buy," said Gelberi.

Traditionally, many Turkish savers keep deposits in foreign exchange to shield from sharp shifts in the lira.

A foreign exchange dealer said the lira may weaken to the 1.4-1.5 level at least if Turkey defies America over Iraq.

MANY STILL BULLISH

Some investors view the current fall in Turkish markets as a modest correction that will send the lira only as far as the 1.25-1.26 level. They say a significant setback is unlikely.

"We are very bullish on Turkey in the longer term. We have seen most geopolitically-motivated sell-offs as a buying opportunity. People look at the politics and misprice the economic story," said Werner Gey van Pittius, emerging markets analyst at Investec Asset Management in London which manages about $300 million in emerging market assets.

If the tanks rolled across the border, investors' natural instinct would be to sell Turkish assets but it would do little to alter what remains a positive medium-term picture, with inflation set to continue to fall while the government presses ahead with a reformist agenda, said analysts.

"Short-term volatility then should provide investors with an opportunity to add to lira (assets) at cheaper levels. It is a tried and tested method that has served them well over the past 18 months or so," said Nicholas Kennedy, head of emerging markets at 4Cast.

The pace of emerging markets' recovery from August's subprime mortgage wobble shows that investor sentiment remains bullish, analysts said.

"In simple terms you get paid for buying weakness in Turkey," Kennedy added.

Turkey pays well for the risk with yields on the benchmark bond of 16 percent, versus an inflation rate of 7 percent.

"The current situation between Turkey and the United States is unlikely to derail the market environment for Turkey... They are not going to go against the will of the U.S. in a major way, the U.S. is their big brother," said Jason Hepner, strategist at Standard Life Investments in Edinburgh. Standard Life manages 1.6 billion sterling in emerging markets.

Analysts say Washington, stuck in a quagmire in Iraq, is in no position to react heavy-handedly to Turkey over the Kurds.

"The U.S. and Turkey will not destroy such a strategic partnership. Turkey will not go too far and the U.S. will turn a blind eye to a limited incursion," Gelberi said.

(Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn in London)

[Alexandros]

Congresswoman Niki Tsongas


Armenian National Committee of Merrimack Valley
142 Liberty Street, Lowell, MA 01852

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release ~ 2007-11-19
Contact: Pearl Teague ~ 978-804-2383


ANC OF MERRIMACK VALLEY WELCOMES REP. TSONGAS' COSPONSORSHIP OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION


Lowell, MA- The ANC of Merrimack Valley (ANC of MV) hailed the addition of recently elected Rep. Niki Tsongas as the newest cosponsor of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H. Res. 106), honoring an campaign pledge she had made during her special election bid.

"The Armenian community of Lowell welcomes Rep. Tsongas' support for the Armenian Genocide resolution. Like her predecessor, Marty Meehan, she is committed to upholding the highest standards of human rights and working to end the cycle of genocide," commented ANC Chairwoman Pearl Teague.

Prior to the October 16th special election, called upon the resignation of longtime Democratic Representative Marty Meehan, Tsongas had answered favorably to a questionnaire issued by the Armenian National Committee of America, which was sent out to all Congressional candidates seeking the Fifth Congressional Seat. In the questionnaire, Tsongas answered favorably to all ten questions, including working to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur, maintaining military parity in U.S. military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan, and support of steps to urge Turkey to end its blockade of Armenia.

Tsongas was sworn into office this past October. The following week, grassroots activists from the Armenian National Committee of Eastern & Central Massachusetts had an opportunity to meet with her district office team to discuss issues of concern to the Armenian American community and encouraged her to cosponsor H. Res. 106. "The mass murders committed by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians was genocide," said Tsongas. "Other countries have acknowledged dark chapters in their past and it is time for Turkey to do the same. The Armenians and the descendants of those who were victimized deserve justice."

On October 10th, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved H.Res.106 by 27 to 21, despite a public call by President Bush, announced during a White House press conference, against the measure. In the wake of its adoption, over 5000 print, on-line and broadcast news items have covered this measure. H.Res.106 currently has over 200 cosponsors, while a similar measure in the Senate, led by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and John Ensign (R-NV), has 33 cosponsors.

Tsongas' answers to the ANCA Congressional Questionnaire can be viewed questionnaire can be viewed at: http://www.anca.org/press_releases/p....php?prid=1313

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

####

source

[Joseph]

http://www.hellenicnews.com/readnews.html?newsid=7713&lang=US

Executive Branch Appeasement of Turkey Continues


Op-Ed
Executive Branch Appeasement of Turkey Continues
12-4-07
The latest example of the Executive Branch appeasement of Turkey to the detriment of U.S. interests concerns the Armenian Genocide resolutions in the House of Representatives, H. Res. 106 and the Senate, S. Res. 106.

The vote on H. Res. 106 in the House Foreign Affairs Committee took place on October 10, 2007. The resolution passed 27 to 21 on October 10, 2007, despite a massive lobbying campaign by the White House, the State and Defense Departments and the Turkish government.

The government of Turkey is spending over $3.6 million annually for lobbyists including former Congressmen Bob Livingston and xxxx Gephardt, DLA Piper and Fleishman-Hillard, public relations specialists.

As a presidential candidate in 2000, Bush pledged that he would make sure that “our nation properly recognizes” that: “The Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign that defies comprehension and commands all decent people to remember and acknowledge the facts.” Bush however failed to use the term genocide in the annual April 24 presidential statement on the subject. President Clinton also refused to use the term genocide in his April 24 statements. April 24 is the date generally considered the start of the killings of Armenians in 1915 by the “Young Turks” under the Pashas which lasted into 1923 under Ataturk.

Bush urged the Congress and the members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee not to vote for H. Res. 106. The State and Defense Departments went all out to defeat it.

The State Department obtained the signatures of all eight living former secretaries of state on a joint letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) which contained a warning that H. Res. 106, a non-binding resolution “would endanger our national security interests in the region, including the safety of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

I concur with those 27 Representatives who voted for H. Res. 106 and who, in effect, question the thesis of the joint letter and its accuracy.

I concur with Congressman Brad Sherman (D-California) a principal sponsor of H. Res. 106 who said in his opening statement in the Committee on October 10, 2007 prior to the vote:

“What happened in 1915 to 1923? In the area now encompassed by Turkey, the Armenian population was two million. Eight years later it was virtually zero. Our own ambassador to the Ottoman Empire stated what happened: �When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race; they understood this well, and, in their conversations with me, they made no particular attempt to conceal the fact.�

Or turn to Mustaffa Arriff, the last minister of the Interior of the Ottoman Empire, who said, �Our wartime leaders…decided to exterminated the Armenians, and they did exterminate them.�

It is right for this Congress to recognize a genocide particularly when it is denied. Genocide denial is not only the last step of a genocide, it is the first step in the next genocide. When Hitler had to convince his cohorts that the world would let them get away with it, he turned to them and said, �Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?�

Opponents say that Turkey will be angry….This Committee has condemned particular actions of such great allies such as England and Canada. We cannot provide genocide denial as one of the perks of friendship with the United States.

• • • •

We are told that if we pass this resolution Turkey will react against us. Beyond the moral bankruptcy of such threats lies Turkey�s long-standing practice of trying to win through intimidation, and then when a resolution is passed, doing little or nothing. Despite threats of harsh retribution, Turkey has taken either no steps at all, or token diplomatic steps, against Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Argentina, and more than 10 other countries that have recognized the Armenian Genocide.

Forty of the United States have recognized the Armenian Genocide, and their trade with Turkey has gone up. My own state of California formally recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1997 and our exports to Turkey have been doing just fine, thank you.

The best example, and the biggest battle, was France, which in 2001 was threatened by Turkey with a trade boycott if it recognized the Armenian Genocide. The French went ahead and recognized that genocide. The chart shows you what happened—a near tripling of French exports to Turkey.

• • • •

This resolution is supported by virtually every scholar of genocide, and by both the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and the Arab-American Institute.

Finally, we are asked, �Why act now?� Turkey will be a better ally if we speak the truth. Turkey will be an even better ally if Turkey speaks the truth.

But we also have very personal reasons to act now. Today, at this Committee meeting, we have with us four people who survived the Armenian Genocide. They are in their 90s and 100s. We cannot tell them, �Wait. Come back in a few years.� Let these survivors see the country that gave them refuge also give them justice—while they are still here to see it.”

Clearly there are several alternatives to Incirlik air base in Turkey for logistical support of our troops in Iraq. And Turkey�s troops are not welcome in Iraq.

Because of the Turkish threats to stop the use of Incirlik air base and overflight rights by the U.S. if the House of Representatives passes H. Res. 106, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the principal sponsors of the bill have postponed bringing the bill to the House floor for a vote at this time.

Congressman Sherman put it well when he wrote “Americans must ask Turkey, when has it become fashionable for friends to threaten friends?”

Turkey�s negotiating tactics

It is important to remember Turkey�s negotiating tactics. Martin Gilbert, the world renowned historian and biographer of Churchill, in a conference at the Library of Congress on the Armenian Genocide summarized Turkey�s negotiating tactics as follows:

(1)Admit nothing and deny everything;
(2)lie; and
(3)attack, attack, attack.

Turkey�s threats against the U.S. if the House passes H. Res. 106 is an example of “attack.” The Executive Branch (White House, State and Defense Departments) response is shameful and exposes a deep weakness in our diplomatic policy. The State and Defense Departments of successive administration have practiced a policy of appeasement of Turkey and a policy of double standards on the rule of law for Turkey.

U.S.-Turkey policy based on false premises

The added disgrace of the Executive Branch policies regarding Turkey is that they are based on false premises.

Ted Galen Carpenter, the Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies of the respected CATO Institute in Washington, D.C. is one of our nation�s leading defense and foreign policy analysts. His recent remarks on U.S.-Turkey relations on November 13 at an American Hellenic Institute (AHI) Noon Forum are important. Dr. Carpenter set forth clearly and cogently the reason why the “conventional wisdom in American foreign policy circles regarding Turkey” is in error.

He lists four assumptions of the “conventional wisdom” and then demonstrates that each of them is “partially false or totally false.”

His remarks should be required reading in the State and Defense Departments, the National Security Council and the Congress. The AHI will distribute these remarks to each Representative, Senator, the President and Executive Branch officials.

Dr. Carpenter stated that the conventional wisdom in American foreign policy circles regarding Turkey asserts the following four propositions:

First , that Turkey has been a loyal ally of the United States since the earliest days of the Cold War and remains a loyal ally.

Second, that Turkey is a force for stability in the Middle East and Central Asia in addition to its role within NATO and European affairs.

Third, that Turkey is basically a Western secular country.

Fourth, Turkey is a good candidate that should be admitted to the European Union in the near future.

Dr. Carpenter in his remarks demonstrated “that every one of those assumptions is either partially false or totally false.”

What is needed in the interests of the U.S. is a critical review of U.S.-Turkey relations by the Congress, the Executive Branch and the academic and think tank communities.

Get active- call and write the President and your representative and two senators and tell them it is not in the interests of the U.S. to continue appeasing Turkey and applying a double standard on the rule of law for Turkey.

Gene Rossides is President
of the American Hellenic Institute and
former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury

[Joseph]

http://www.hellenicnews.com/readnews.html?newsid=7722&lang=US

Lessons of History: The Question of Armenian Genocide


The Foreign Affairs Congressional Committee voted in the fall for the recognition of the Armenian massacres perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks during the First World War, as genocide. The Speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, has vowed to bring the resolution to the House floor for a vote before her term in office expires a year from now.

This development has caused diplomatic tremors in Ankara and Washington. The two governments are concerned about the political implications of such a resolution, if it were to pass at this critical time of uncertainty and turbulence in the Middle East. After all, the US/Turkish relations have not been in their best state lately, due primarily to the Turkish refusal to allow the US military to open a second front of attack in the North, during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. That refusal, coming unexpectedly from a NATO ally, has proven rather costly to the US war effort in both dollars and American lives.

To complicate things further, the Turkish Government has asked and received authorization from the National Assembly for an invasion and possible extensive military operations in Northern Iraq ostensibly against Kurdish “terrorists,” but in reality to get control of some of the rich oil resources in the area. Such a Turkish move would certainly make things even more difficult for the US in Iraq, because it will set in turmoil the only area of Iraq which is relatively peaceful and prosperous, the Kurdish Iraq in the North.

However, a prosperous and autonomous Kurdistan is exactly what the Turks fear most, because it will set a “bad example” for the millions of Kurds in Turkey to imitate. The Turks, therefore, will do whatever they can to prevent a free Kurdish State from coming into being. They will not hesitate to use any pretext, even the Armenian genocide resolution in the US Congress, to move into Northern Iraq and occupy it militarily, just as they did thirty-three years ago when they invaded Cyprus and occupied almost half of the island, under the pretext of protecting the Turkish Cypriots. There are some Turkmen in Iraq too, who may want to have Turkish “protection” from the surrounding Kurds.

But this political maneuvering and shrewd calculations of Turkey’s Islamist Government should not be allowed to derail the legitimate process of the US Congress to amend a historical error by recognizing the Armenian genocide with its proper name at last. The Republic of Turkey does not gain anything of moral value by trying to cover up the painful and horrible events that accompanied the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War II, or its own birth in 1923. History has lessons to teach for those who are prudent enough to learn from it and courageous so as not repeat the same errors.

History teaches us that the dissolution of empires is usually as messy or violent as a non-amicable divorce. Various ethnic and religious groups, that had found a modus vivendi under the protective umbrella of a thriving empire, suddenly come to realization that the imperial power is falling apart and cannot protect them any more. Then, each ethnic group goes its own way and tries to become independent and self-sufficient. Hence the messy process of separating the common-wealth and getting a fair share arises.

In the case of the Ottoman Turks, their coming into Western Anatolia and the establishment of an empire there and in Southeastern Europe was facilitated by the fact that the Christian powers of that time were divided, while the Byzantine Empire had been broken down into a number of principalities as a result of the disastrous fourth Crusade. Thus many Anatolian Christians (Armenians, Syrians, Greeks, etc.) did not resist but rather helped the Turks build and sustain for centuries the Ottoman Empire (14th-20th).

For more than a century the Ottoman Empire had become “the old sick man” of Europe, who would not die, because the Great Powers could not agree how to burry its corpse and divide the spoils. In the First World War it appeared that the dismemberment of the Empire would be accomplished finally. But the rise of Kemalism in Turkey and the threat of the spread of Communism after its success in Russia (1917), combined to keep the whole of Anatolia and a corner of Europe in Turkish hands. Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, and other ethnic minorities were either slaughtered or forced out from the lands where they had lived and prospered for millennia.

The Armenians of Anatolia particularly were targeted in such a systematic way for extermination by massive executions, forced labor camps, violent transportations, and ethnic cleansing that the term “genocide” describes fittingly the brutality of that historical reality. A generation later, Hitler was to use the Armenian genocide as “a model” for his even more horrific conception of a genocidal scheme against the Jews in Germany.

No wonder, then, that many of the Jewish and other survivors feel sympathy for the Armenians and their tragic fate. Many Europeans and American have felt the same sympathy for a long time. Recently, the citizens of European States and the United States have found the courage to apply the necessary pressure on elected officials to act in the direction of recognition of the Armenian genocide by its proper name in memory of the millions of its victims. There is hope that horrors of this magnitude and inhumanity will not be repeated in the future, if humanity remembers them and names them appropriately.

In this light present day Turkey, which is supposed to be secular and democratic, should not be offended if other States judge it politically correct and prudent to recognize the atrocities perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians as genocide. The Republic of Turkey perhaps should do the same for its own good. In fact, it would have been better for the image of Turkey and its aspiration of joining the European Union, if it had done so some time ago. Instead of this sensible policy, Turkey threatens the United States with strategic penalties to prevent the resolution on Armenian genocide from reaching the House of Representatives. This is very strange behavior of a NATO ally.

Turkish policy makers probably calculate that they can get now the share of Iraq that they wanted four years ago (2003). At that time Turkey, under the same Islamist Government of Mr. Erdogan, refused to help the Americans by allowing them to open a second front in the North, because the United States did not want it to enter the rich in oil fields of Northern Iraq. Now they threaten to prevent even supplies for the SU troops in Iraq to pass through Turkey. They also threaten to invade Iraq to fight PPK members, using as pretext not just the killing of ambushed Turkish solders, but also the passing of the Armenian genocide resolution in the Congressional Committee of Foreign Affairs.

The Turks may want to repeat the success they had so easily in Cyprus in 1974, when they invaded the island illegally. By threatening to occupy the whole of Cyprus, they managed to hold on to more than a third of it for more than thirty years now. But Iraq is not Cyprus, Kurds are not Greeks, and the US of post 9/11 is very different from its previous self. So, if Turkey moves into Northern Iraq against the expressed will of the US and NATO, if may bite more than it will be able to chew this time. The good luck cannot be on the Turkish side for ever. Kurds and poor Armenians deserve a share of it.


Dr. Christos Evangeliou is Professor of philosophy, poet, and author of several books including the latest, Hellenic Philosophy: Origin and Character (Ashgate, 2006).