'07 US Armenian Genocide Bill news

[Hovik]

Ankara tries to influence on U.S. through Jews

Ankara tries to influence on U.S. through Jews

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “We will do our best stop the Armenian Genocide bill,” said Tom Lantos, the most powerful person of the Jewish lobby in the U.S. and the chairman of the congressional foreign relations committee after the U.S. visit of Gül and Büyükanit. As reported by Sabah newspaper, Lantos sent a message through the Prime Minister of Israel Olmert.

The Turkish authorities were lobbying in the U.S. against the passage of the bill and trying to convince the chairman of the congressional foreign relations committee Tom Lantos who has a power in the Congress as he survived the Jewish massacre in the 2nd World War.

[Hovik]

Setting the Record Straight


In a March 3rd Wall Street Journal Op/Ed, former Ambassador to Turkey Mark Parris, outlined seven reasons he opposes Congressional passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution. His arguments don't stand up to even the most basic scrutiny:


1) "The result will be a train wreck with an important, long standing American ally:
Turkey."

Opponents of the Armenian Genocide Resolution are crying wolf again.

"Train wrecks" were loudly but falsely predicted before President Reagan's 1981 public affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, the 1984 designation by the U.S. House of April 24th as a day for its remembrance, as well as before the amendments passed by the House in 1996 and 2004 restricting U.S. aid to Turkey based on its denial of this crime against humanity.

Despite threats of retribution, Turkey has taken only token steps against the European Parliament, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Argentina, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, and other states and international bodies that have recognized the Armenian Genocide. In fact, despite all its threats in 2001 against France's recognition of the Armenian Genocide, trade between France and Turkey grew 22% the following year, and has grown by 131% over the past five years.

2) "It may never be the right time for one nation to pass legislation on another's history
or morality, but there could be no worse time than now."

Today is exactly the right time.

The recent brutal assassination in Istanbul of noted journalist Hrant Dink, who was killed for simply speaking about the Armenian Genocide, underscores the urgent need for the U.S. to take a principled stand against the escalation of Turkey's campaign of official denial and intolerance.

3) "As we struggle to find our footing in Iraq, for example, Turkey can either help or
make our task much harder."

A veiled but dangerous threat.

In delivering this diplomatically worded warning, Ambassador Parris is passing along a chilling threat by the Turkish government to interfere in U.S. operations in Iraq should the Congress recognize the Armenian Genocide.


4) "This year will highlight the country's pivotal geography and relevance to U.S.
strategic goals."

Ambassador Parris is contradicting himself. In remarks before Congress in October of 2003, he argued that Turkey's value is overstated:

-- "Containment of the Soviet Union, of course, was the core of U.S. foreign policy for 4 decades. Containment of Saddam Hussein was a top priority for U.S. foreign policy for a decade more. Turkey was essential to both objectives. And that enabled Turkey from 1949 really until this spring consistently to box above its weight here in Washington in terms of the quality and level of the official attention it commanded."

-- "It is difficult to envision circumstances today in which Turkey’s contribution will be 'essential' in the same sense that it was in containing the U.S.S.R. and Saddam. That cannot help, in my view, but make a difference in the way that Washington looks at Turkey in the future."

5) "Our forces in Iraq rely heavily on Turkey's Incirlik air base for resupply."

General T. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, stated on February 21, 2007, said: "I wouldn't say that we have to [use] Incirlik to conduct operations in Iraq."

6) "In the past, U.S. congressional leaders have repeatedly bowed to the findings of
administrations of both parties that a genocide resolution would adversely affect
vital American security interests."

As we saw in Rwanda and are witnessing today in Darfur, preventing genocide represents a core American value and a vital U.S. security interest.

Morally: Clearly condemning every instance of genocide reinforces America's moral leadership and international standing in opposing all genocides.

Strategically: Recognizing the Armenian Genocide will help Turkey to come to terms with its past, promote democratization, move closer to Europe, lower regional tensions, and open the door to improved relations with Armenia - all U.S. foreign policy priorities.

7) "The U.S. has a lot of hard work to do in Turkey's neighborhood. In some cases,
American lives will literally be at stake."

It has been Turkey that is costing the lives of U.S. servicemen.

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld attributed the scope of the current insurgency and ongoing violence in Iraq directly to Turkey's decision in 2003 to block Coalition forces from opening a northern front.

ANCA 3/5/07



Aram Suren Hamparian
Executive Director
Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
[email protected]

https://www.anca.org

[Joseph]

I knew this was false news. There was a reason only the Azeri press reported this:

BILL GATES NEVER DEMANDED TO DENY THE RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Aghavni Haroutiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
06/03/2007

In connection with c the recent statements by Azerbaijani mass media
that over 100 biggest businessmen of the world, among which Bill Gates
and Warren Buffet, demanded the US President to deny the Recognition
of the Armenian Genocide, director of the "Micriosoft Area" company,
Grigor Barseghian stated that the Microsoft company has no idea what
letter it is, therefore has no information about its content, origin
or its goals.

[Gavur]

Foreign Minister Oskanian: "turkey Punishes The Usa"

FOREIGN MINISTER OSKANIAN: "TURKEY PUNISHES THE USA"

http://www.azg.am/?lang=EN&num=2007030701

Yesterday on the website of the Turkish National Television the following report was posted: "Foreign Minister of Armenia, Vardan Oskanian suggested that Turkey decided to punish the United States for the Resolution on the Armenian Genocide submitted to the Congress".

According to the same source, Vardan Oskanian said that although Armenia is against governmental interference in such affairs, Turkey started lobbying against the resolution on a governmental level. Mr. Oskanian said that after having punished all its citizens who recognize the genocide, Turkey intends to do the same with USA, in case the Congress dares to adopt the resolution.

From CNN-Turk became known that on his meeting with Condoleeza Rice the Armenian Foreign Minister also discussed the issue of the Genocide Resolution. Further details are unknown.

By H. Chaqrian

[Joseph]

Ankara tries to influence on U.S. through Jews

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “We will do our best stop the Armenian Genocide bill,” said Tom Lantos, the most powerful person of the Jewish lobby in the U.S. and the chairman of the congressional foreign relations committee after the U.S. visit of Gül and Büyükanit. As reported by Sabah newspaper, Lantos sent a message through the Prime Minister of Israel Olmert.

The Turkish authorities were lobbying in the U.S. against the passage of the bill and trying to convince the chairman of the congressional foreign relations committee Tom Lantos who has a power in the Congress as he survived the Jewish massacre in the 2nd World War.

Turkey hosts US Muslim leader

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

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DUYGU GÜVENÇ
ANKARA – TDN Parliament Bureau

Turkey is in search of cooperation with the U.S. Black Muslim leader Deen Mohammad to prevent the so-called clash of civilizations and to reinterpret Islam according to the needs of the 21st century while lobbying against Armenian genocide claims in the U.S. Congress. Mohammad yesterday arrived to Ankara for a 3 days visit, as a guest of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). He started his visit at the Atatürk mausoleum. “I am not an imam. I am a businessman and I am also a community leader,” Mohammad told the Turkish Daily News yesterday. He added that they are in search for cooperation with Turkey. Mohammed is known to be the leader of 2 million Muslims in United States. In 1996 he met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican and participated in the National Prayer Service Celebrating the second inauguration of then U.S. President Bill Clinton. Mohammad will meet with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül and Minister of Trade and Industry Ali Co?kun today. He will also have talks with the head of religious affairs directorate Ali Bardako?lu and the Mufti of ?stanbul, Mustafa Ça?r?c?, about Islam and the situation of 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world. In a joint press conference with Ba???, he underlined the importance of education in Islam, saying the first command of the Prophet Mohammad was “Read.” He evaded a question about Turkey's role in Islamic world but stressed the importance of education for all Muslim societies. Mohammad said he was critical about the U.S. administration's policies in Iraq and he also emphasized he was against Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War. “I said to my community to support the war when I saw the things in Iraq but I regret it now. Our soldiers should be called back and return home,” he said. In the lunch with the Turkish deputies, Ba??? argued that although 80 percent of logistical support to U.S. soldiers is passing from Turkey, U.S. politicians do not have enough knowledge about the role of Turkey, according to sources attending the lunch.



Black Muslims lobby for Turkey: Muslims and Jews will cooperate against the Armenian lobby in the United States against the resolution, which was introduced to the House of Representatives about the genocide claims. He underlined that they have a deputy in Congress, Keith Ellison, and he said, he would meet to talk about the importance of Turkey with Ellison again. He also said the first black senator, Barack Obama, is an important person to prevent the genocide claims in U.S. politics. In the press conference Ba??? drew attention to the power of the Armenian and Greek lobby. He announced that Turkey is in search for different lobbying groups in U. S. to counter the anti-Turkish groups.

[SirJouge]

Wall Street Journal Commentary: Don't Go Cold on Turkey

Here we go again...!


WALL STREET JOURNAL 3/3/07
COMMENTARY

Don't Go Cold on Turkey
By MARK R. PARRIS
March 3, 2007; Page A8

Once again, a resolution has been introduced in the House of Representatives asserting that the forcible deportation and massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 was "genocide." But this time around the resolution, sponsored by Reps. Frank Pallone, Adam Schiff, George Radanovich and Joe Knollenberg (and over 170 co-sponsors), appears likely to pass. The result will be a train wreck with an important, longstanding American ally: Turkey.

It may never be the right time for one nation to pass legislation on another's history or morality, but there could be no worse time than now. It's a particularly sensitive moment in Turkish politics: A new president will be picked by parliament in late April (coinciding with Congress's likely decision on a resolution) and elections for a new parliament will follow by November. Based on current polling, Turkey by year's end could for the first time have a president, government, parliament and most municipalities under the control of a party -- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party -- inclined to loosen the strict barriers set up by Ataturk between religion and state. One does not have to share secular fears of AKP's alleged "secret agenda" to Islamicize Turkish society to appreciate the strains this would generate in Turkish political life over the weeks and months ahead. Nor does it take much imagination to realize that, in such circumstances, Turkish politicians will compete with one another, should a resolution be passed, to show they cannot be pushed around by the U.S. Congress.

Turkish domestic politics isn't the only issue, however. This year will highlight the country's pivotal geography and relevance to U.S. strategic goals. As we struggle to find our footing in Iraq, for example, Turkey can either help or make our task much harder. Our forces in Iraq rely heavily on Turkey's Incirlik airbase for resupply. Turkish military intervention in the north, either to pre-empt cross-border terrorism by Turkish Kurdish PKK terrorists, or to stop Kirkuk from becoming part of the Kurdish federation, would complicate Gen. David Petraeus's already daunting assignment.

Then there is Iran. Will Turkey align itself with Washington and the West in efforts to ratchet up pressure against the Islamic Republic -- a major trading partner and ally against the PKK? Or will the Turks join Russia and others favoring a less-confrontational approach? And as the U.S. tries to forge a new alignment in the Middle East to roll back Iranian influence and restart Israeli-Palestinian talks, a Turkey that has both bulked up its influence in the Muslim world (particularly among Sunni Arabs) and kept its close relationship with Israel, will be an asset.

Turkey has quietly emerged as the prize in a new great game over who will develop and bring to world markets the vast oil and gas resources of former Soviet Central Asia. Experts know that Turkey will in the years ahead become one of the world's major energy hubs, supplied by new pipelines that will crisscross Anatolia. The question is whether this will happen according to Moscow's or Washington's vision of where those pipelines should run, and whose product should fill them. Ankara will likely make some of the key decisions this year.

Turkey goes into this defining year with its anchors to the West drifting or under strain. NATO, for decades the bedrock of Turkey's Western identity, particularly for its influential military, has lost luster as its mission has blurred. The European Union's ambivalence toward Turkey since formally beginning the accession process in October 2006 has soured many Turks on the project. Despite laudable garden-tending by senior officials on both sides, U.S.-Turkish relations haven't recovered the depth or breadth they had in the '90s; polls show anti-Americanism remains high in the Turkish "street." The winners have been Turkey's ultranationalists, whose vision of a Turkey that "goes it alone" and increasingly resorts to violence is chilling.

Some will interpret this analysis as realpolitik that simply postpones the moment when Turkey must deal with its pre-Republican history. That ignores the reality that Turks in growing numbers -- among them Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk -- are speaking out in favor of a more candid debate on the events of 1915. Most fear their voices will be drowned out by the tsunami of nationalist outrage that a resolution will generate.

In the past, U.S. congressional leaders have repeatedly bowed to the findings of administrations of both parties that a genocide resolution would adversely affect vital American security interests. Given the equities America now has at stake in and around Turkey, those findings remain as valid as ever.

The U.S. has a lot of hard work to do in Turkey's neighborhood. In some cases, American lives will literally be at stake. Whatever the challenge we face in this troubled region, our success will be far more certain if we can work with Turkey, rather than having to work around it. The responsible choice for Congress's current leadership is to join their predecessors in concluding that passage of an Armenian genocide resolution does not serve American interests.

Mr. Parris, who was U.S. ambassador to Turkey from 1997 to 2000, is a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution.

[Gavur]

He's full of xxxx too!

[Hovik]

Jewish Press: Armenian Genocide Resolution - Turkey's Chutzpah



2/28/07


We are certainly not insensitive to the significance of Turkey’s support of Israel. But the Turkish government’s attempt to capitalize on that support by pressing the American Jewish community to oppose a Congressional resolution that condemns as “genocide” Turkey’s murder of a million and a half Armenians during World War I strikes us as being the height of chutzpah.

As The New York Sun reported, on February 5 the Turkish foreign minister met with representatives of several major Jewish groups and “made a hard sell” against House Resolution 106, which now has 176 co-sponsors. The Turkish official reportedly appealed to the participants by noting – outrageously, we think – the uniqueness of the German genocide against the Jews.

The Turks do not deny that between 1915 and 1917 they conducted a devastating military campaign against the Armenians and that thousands of Armenians were killed on forced marches. They claim, however, that the hapless Armenians were a fifth column, often armed and working on behalf of the Russian army in World War I.

But the American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time, Henry Morgenthau, wrote in his memoir, “I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this.” The orders for the deportations of the Armenian families in 1915 “were merely giving a death warrant to a whole race,” he wrote.

Anyone who seriously and objectively considers those events cannot but conclude that there was a calculated and purposeful effort to exterminate the Armenians. After all, approximately 1.5 million perished.

That said, we understand that opposition to House Resolution 106 does not necessarily signify lack of sympathy with the victims, or, indeed, sentiment against the concept itself. Not buying into an initiative on someone else’s schedule is not always an indicator of nefarious motives at play.

We also have no doubt that some would argue the Jewish community should oppose the resolution if only to preserve the aura of uniqueness surrounding the destruction of European Jewry in the Holocaust. And this, perhaps, was the point the Turkish foreign minister was trying to make in his presentation to Jewish leaders.

But acknowledging as genocide the systematic murder of a million and a half human beings of a particular ethnic heritage in no way detracts from recognition of the Holocaust as a uniquely monumental evil in the blood-soaked annals of human history.

[Joseph]

Analysis: Congress debates Armenia genocide
By MICHAEL SCHER
UPI Correspondent
WASHINGTON, March 21 (UPI) -- In 1896 former U.S. Minister to the Ottoman Empire Oscar Straus convinced President Grover Cleveland to ignore a controversial resolution passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives that would have called for the Ottoman Sultan to stop his killing of ethnic Armenians.
More than 100 years later the U.S. Congress is at a similar crossroads on the very same issue. House and Senate Resolutions 106 call for American foreign policy to recognize the killings of Armenians by the former Ottoman Empire as "genocide." The Republic of Turkey is the official successor state to the Ottoman Empire because of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

Being the official successor state is part of the reason for the Turkish government wanting to deny that the Armenian killings were a genocide, said Brian Kabateck, a senior partner in Kabateck, Brown & Keller, a law firm that has represented about a half-dozen Armenian-Americans in cases against U.S. insurance companies and banks that have denied claims and accounts to relatives of deceased Armenians who took out insurance and had accounts before they died in the Armenian Genocide. Kabateck said that the Ottoman state seized property and businesses and that Turkey would be responsible for reparations to Armenians and the nation of Armenia if they admitted that what the Ottoman state did was genocide.

Kabateck's suits throw into light the fact that there are 1 million or so Armenians living in the United States. The main sponsor of Resolution 106 in the House is Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., whose constituency has a large population of Armenians.

Schiff is sponsoring this legislation because he believes that the U.S. cannot have the moral authority it's projecting in the current Darfur crisis without recognizing a genocide that happened 90 years ago. He said it is important for the United States to recognize the killings as genocide despite the fact that Turkey is a friend and an ally.

"More often with friends than foes you have to speak candidly," Schiff said. "I happen to believe ... that the final act of genocide is the denial of genocide."

In 2004 a similar resolution, also sponsored by Schiff, was met with resistance from the Bush administration because it feared it would damage relations with Turkey, Schiff said. Schiff said that if the current resolution passes it will affect U.S.-Turkey relations, but he believes the Bush administration should spend less time appealing to Congress not to pass the resolution and work on repairing the damage it did to relations with Turkey because of the Iraq war.

"They keep saying now is not the time," Schiff said. "It's been 90 years. If this is not the time, when is?"

A central tenet of this bill is to recognize that what happened was genocide, Schiff said. This is something the Bush administration is protesting fearing a negative impact on relations with Turkey. However, in every letter the administration sends to Congress it recognizes what happened was genocide, Schiff said.

Tuluy Tanc, the minister counselor at Turkey's Embassy in Washington, said that while this resolution will most likely not result in restrictions on the U.S. military or hurt cooperation between Turkey and the United States over security in Iraq, it will hurt the Turkish people.

"There will be a reaction and Turkey will be deeply hurt," Tanc said. "How the government will react I cannot say, but there will be feelings of unfairness towards a friend and an ally. ... This will be like a little slap in the face."

Tanc said that the Armenian lobby's presentation of facts to the U.S. Congress was one-sided and that Congress was not taking into account the Turkish side of the story.

For instance, Tanc provided Ottoman Empire census documents that showed there were only 1.5 million Armenians living in Turkey at the time of the killings. Historians claim 1.5 million Armenians were killed, which Tanc said was part of the inaccuracies in the current resolution.

Mehdi Noorbaksh, an associate professor of international affairs at the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Pennsylvania, said that if this resolution passes it will have a negative impact on U.S.-Turkey relations.

"It will be a disaster in a sense for Turkey," Noorbaksh said. "I really do not think this administration is ready for a resolution like this. ... This will not help the United States."

It will be necessary for the current Islamist government in power in Turkey right now to react strongly to this in order to remain in power, Noorbaksh said.

Some 20 other nations have passed resolutions similar to Resolution 106 and have gotten similar threats of dissatisfaction from Turkey, said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America. When France passed a similar resolution in 2001 it was met with a stern reaction from the Turkish government, however, the very next year trade rose by 22 percent between France and Turkey.

The United States has a long history of weaker resolutions of the genocide dating back to the 1980s that have not hampered relations with Turkey, Hamparian said. In 1981 President Ronald Reagan recognized the Armenian Genocide in a speech about the Holocaust. In 1984 Congress passed a resolution setting April 24 as a day of remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. In 1996 and 2004 resolutions were passed that limited the usage of U.S. aid to Turkey that was being used to fund the Turkish lobby in the United States. Throughout all of these resolutions, trade with Turkey has steadily increased Hamparian said.

"U.S. relations with Turkey will certainly endure this (resolution 106)," Hamparian said.

[Gavur]

2007-03-27 15:59:00

http://www.defacto.am/index.php?OP=71322585

AAA REPRESENTATIVES THANKED SENATOR EDWARDS FOR HIS SUPPORT OF GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

According to the information DE FACTO received at the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA), Assembly Board of Trustees Member Annie Totah and Executive Director Bryan Ardouny thanked Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) for his support of Armenian issues including the Genocide resolution (S. Res. 106).
Kennedy is a longtime supporter of Armenian issues and has cosponsored previous legislation to reaffirm the Armenian Genocide. S. Res. 106, which was introduced by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and John Ensign (R-NV), calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide. The legislation has 25 cosponsors to date.