Turkey recalls ambassador over genocide resolution

[markalot]

The dems were looking for this fight?

Turkey recalls ambassador over genocide resolution

* Story Highlights
* Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy will head home after U.S. House panel vote
* Vote calls killing of Armenians during World War I genocide
* Condoleezza Rice set to call Turkish leaders to express "deep disappointment"
* Turkey is a key U.S.-Mideast ally and conduit for supplies into Iraq

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the United States in response to a House resolution that would call the World War I massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces genocide, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the measure 27-21 Wednesday, even though President Bush and key administration figures lobbied hard against it. The full House is expected to vote on it, possibly Friday.

A top Turkish official warned Thursday that consequences "won't be pleasant" if the full House approves the resolution.

"Yesterday some in Congress wanted to play hardball," said Egemen Bagis, foreign policy adviser to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "I can assure you Turkey knows how to play hardball."

Asked about Ambassador Nabi Sensoy's recall after the news broke, a State Department spokesman said he could not confirm it. "People are sometimes called back for consultation; sometimes they're called back for other reasons," said spokesman Tom Casey.

"If they wanted to bring their ambassador back for consultations or do something else, that is their decision. I certainly think that it will not do anything to limit our efforts to continue to reach out to Turkish officials, to explain our views, to engage them on this issue and again to make clear that we intend to work on this with Congress."

Casey and White House spokeswoman Dana Perinosaid they both would like to see the resolution withdrawn without a vote by the full House. However, Casey said, "I don't think anyone is expecting that to happen at this point."

Democratic leaders said earlier if the Foreign Affairs Committee passed the resolution, they intended to bring it to the House floor.

The House was not in session Thursday because of the funeral of Rep. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, who died Saturday. Members may vote on the resolution Friday.

Turkey, a NATO member, has been a key U.S. ally in the Middle East and a conduit for sending supplies into Iraq.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that good relations with Turkey are vital because 70 percent of the air cargo intended for U.S. forces in Iraq and 30 percent of the fuel consumed by those forces fly through Turkey.

U.S. commanders "believe clearly that access to airfields and roads and so on in Turkey would very much be put at risk if this resolution passes and the Turks react as strongly as we believe they will," Gates said.

Bagis said no French planes have flown through Turkish airspace since a French Parliament committee passed a similar resolution last year.

He said the response to the U.S. might not be the same, but warned if the full House passes it that "we will do something, and I can promise you it won't be pleasant."

Bagis spoke to reporters while in Washington to attend a meeting of the Carnegie Endowment.

In a statement on his Web site, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said the resolution was "unacceptable" and "doesn't fit a major power like the United States."

In a letter to Bush, Gul warned that "in the case that Armenian allegations are accepted, there will be serious problems in the relations between the two countries."

"We still hope that common sense will prevail and that the House of Representatives will not move this resolution any further," the Turkish Foreign Ministry Web site said.

The vote was also strongly criticized by Turkish newspapers, The Associated Press reported. "Bill of Hatred," said Hurriyet's front page, while Vatan's headline read "27 Foolish Americans."

Casey said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned to speak with the Turkish foreign minister about the issue later Thursday and had requested calls with Erdogan and Gul.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack issued a statement expressing "regret" for the committee's action, warning the resolution "may do grave harm to U.S.-Turkish relations and to U.S. interests in Europe and the Middle East."

The nonbinding House resolution said the deportation of nearly 2 million Armenians from the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923, resulting in the deaths of 1.5 million of them, amounted to "genocide."

Turks strongly reject the genocide label, insisting there was no organized campaign against the Armenians and that many Turks also died in the chaos and violence of the period.

Sensoy said the resolution's passage would be a "very injurious move to the psyche of the Turkish people."

He predicted a backlash in the country, saying there would be setbacks on several fronts: Turkish-American relations, Turkish-Armenian relations and the normalization of relations between the nations of Turkey and Armenia.

The resolution's sponsor, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, said the measure already had 226 co-sponsors, more than enough votes to pass "and the most support an Armenian genocide resolution has ever received."

A similar resolution passed the committee by a 40-7 vote two years ago, but it never reached the full House floor.

The resolution arrives at a particularly sensitive point in U.S.-Turkish relations. The United States has urged Turkey not to send its troops over the border into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish separatist rebels, who have launched some cross-border attacks against Turkish targets.

Observers of U.S.-Turkish relations have argued the House resolution could make Turkey less inclined to use restraint in dealing with its longstanding problems with the Kurdistan Workers Party.

CNN's Deirdre Walsh, Elise Labott and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.



Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/11/us.turkey.armenians/index.html

[Unrequited]

Fucking crybabies. Until they face up to their genocidal past, Turkey can suck it.

[Hellburger]

Turks strongly reject the genocide label, insisting there was no organized campaign against the Armenians and that many Turks also died in the chaos and violence of the period.
There were more than a few Nazis who died during WWII, but that doesn't disprove the holocaust.

[clonE]

Fucking crybabies. Until they face up to their genocidal past, Turkey can suck it.

Was the US still a colony of Britain when the number of Native Americans was severely curtailed? Since that was a long term process, is the US safe from claims of genociding?

[Unrequited]

is the US safe from claims of genociding?

Nope, not at all. But we're talking Turkey here.

[drougan]

Was the US still a colony of Britain when the number of Native Americans was severely curtailed? Since that was a long term process, is the US safe from claims of genociding?

Depends on which even you mean by "severely curtailed". Diseases had already ravaged much of the Native American population by the time the British really set up shop.

That said, do we really need to bother making diplomatic waves regarding an event that transpired before any of the empowered were even born? On BOTH sides? i.e., Why should we feel obliged to make an official, if inconsequential, resolution defining the event as genocide and even if we did, why would Turkey care?

[silentpaul]

Nope, not at all. But we're talking Turkey here.
I snorted quite loudly at this. :D

[the happy prole]

It's pretty stupid, but it's not really a Democrat thing.

It's more like everyone likes to jump on resolutions condemning obviously evil shit as evil shit, even if it happened 100 years ago. Especially Congressmen from the district with the largest Aemenian population.

You look good when you condemn genocide. And then maybe you get a favor back in return where everyone agrees to condemn slavery. It's not like you actually have to do anything about the situation. If it creates a diplomatic mess, too bad. It's the President who has to deal with it, not you.

[Duemellon]

Depends on which even you mean by "severely curtailed". Diseases had already ravaged much of the Native American population by the time the British really set up shop.Diseases had already ravaged them?

What diseases again? From where?

U do know they were quite aware of germ-warfare during the Roman Empire, right? They didn't need to kill someone with bullets if all it takes is one smallpox tainted blanket.

[clonE]

Diseases had already ravaged them?

What diseases again? From where?

U do know they were quite aware of germ-warfare during the Roman Empire, right? They didn't need to kill someone with bullets if all it takes is one smallpox tainted blanket.

I think Drougan's point is that the Spaniards and other pre-British explorers did their fair share of disease-sharing before the colonists really came in and started taking over the place.

Watched something on PBS the other night, evidence suggests syphilis was a Western Hemisphere disease that Colombus's crew brought back to Europe.

(did anyone else NOT know that the Pinta revolted and abandoned CC in the West? show didn't say what happened to it though, implied they simply sailed home)

[Hogarth]

Turkey says it's ready for Iraq campaign By SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press Writer
40 minutes ago



ANKARA, Turkey - With Turkish-U.S. relations strained, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey would not be deterred by the diplomatic consequences if it decides to stage a cross-border offensive into Iraq against Kurdish rebels.

"If such an option is chosen, whatever its price, it will be paid," Erdogan told reporters in response to a question about the international repercussions of such a decision, which would strain ties with the United States and Iraq. "There could be pros and cons of such a decision, but what is important is our country's interests."

Erdogan also had harsh words for the United States, which opposes a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq — one of the country's few relatively stable areas.

"Did they seek permission from anyone when they came from a distance of 10,000 kilometers and hit Iraq?" he said. "We do not need anyone else's advice."

Analysts say Turkey could be less restrained about defying the United States because of a congressional committee's approval of a resolution labeling the mass killings of Armenians around the time of World War I as genocide.

"Democrats are harming the future of the United States and are encouraging anti-American sentiments," Erdogan said. Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives support the resolution.

Erdogan said Turkey was ready to sacrifice good ties with Washington if necessary.

"Let it snap from wherever it gets thin," Erdogan said, using a Turkish expression that means breaking ties with someone or something.

At issue in the resolution is the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated, and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest that killed Muslims as well as the overwhelmingly Christian Armenians.

Turkey, a key supply route to U.S. troops in Iraq, recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations and warned of serious repercussions if Congress passes the resolution.

"In the United States, there are several narrow-minded legislators who can't think of their own interests and who cannot understand the importance of Turkey," said Murat Mercan, head of the Turkish parliament's foreign relations committee.

Turkish authorities have refused to comment on whether Turkey might shut down Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, a major cargo hub for U.S. and allied military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey's Mediterranean port of Iskenderun is also used to ferry goods to American troops.

The Yeni Safak newspaper, which is close to the Turkish government, said Friday that Incirlik and $15 billion worth of defense contracts, including purchase of warplanes, missile and radar systems, could be reviewed. Turkey could also prevent U.S. firms from taking part in new contracts, Yeni Safak said.

Erdogan said Turkey has long been seeking the cooperation of Iraq and the United States in its fight against Kurdish guerrillas, but there has been no crackdown on the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, which has bases in Iraq. Erdogan said a recent anti-terrorism deal signed with Iraq was not valid since it had not been approved by Iraq's parliament yet.

The Turkish parliament was expected to approve a government request to authorize an Iraq campaign as early as next week, after a holiday ending the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"We are making necessary preparations to be ready in case we decide on a cross-border operation since we don't have patience to lose more time," Erdogan said, adding that Turkey has lost 30 people in rebel attacks over the past two weeks.

A Turkish soldier was killed in a mine explosion on Thursday night on Mt. Gabar in southeastern Sirnak province, authorities said Friday.

Turkish army units, backed by helicopter gunships, were hunting rebels in the rugged border area.

Bahoz Erdal, a senior rebel commander, said the PKK fighters were moving further inside Turkey and taking new "positions" in the face of attacks from Turkey, pro-Kurdish Firat News Agency reported Friday. The agency is based in Belgium.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984.

___

Associated Press Writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report.

[Kruschev]

Seems like this is an attempt by the Democrats to curtail the war. This House resolution doesn't make much sense. Do we still blame current Germans for the Holocaust? In Japan, don't they rewrite the history of WWII in textbooks? Every country has their own sordid past.