American-Turkish alliance, rice says U.S. should not pass Armenian Genocide bill

[Crvena zvezda]

Personally, I believe all european states should pass an Armenian Genocide bill just to anger turks, use their violent reactions to deport them and lastly end all bilateral relations with them. Sadly , this will never happen. But at least European nations are not scum like Condoleeza Rice who plans to get the president to veto any anti-Turk bills.

US Secretary of State Rice, administration officials warn against Armenian genocide resolution

27/03/2007

Top US officials, including Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, have been seeking to convince lawmakers not to pass a resolution that defines the World War I killings of Armenians as genocide. Supporters say the bill is a moral imperative, but opponents argue that it would hurt US interests and damage ties with Ankara.

(AP, UPI - 21/03/07; The Washington Times - 20/03/07; Hurriyet, Middle East Newsline - 19/03/07; Turkish Daily News, The New Anatolian, Turkish Press - 17/03/07; Eurasianet, Turkish Daily News, Zaman - 16/03/07; AP, Turkish Press, US Department of State - 15/03/07; AP - 14/03/07)
US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. [Getty Images]



The United States should leave Turkey and Armenia to resolve their dispute on whether the mass killings of Armenians in the wane of the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a US Congressional committee Wednesday (March 21st).
"What we've encouraged the Turks and the Armenians to do is to have joint historical commissions that can look at this, to have efforts to examine their past, and in examining their past to get over it," the AP quoted her as saying. "I don't think it helps that process of reconciliation for the United States to enter this debate at that level," Rice added.
She was responding to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif), sponsor of a bill defining the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide. Supporters say passing such legislation is a moral imperative, while opponents argue that the cost, in terms of US interests and relations with Ankara, is too high.
In recent weeks, senior US officials have sought to convince lawmakers that passage of such legislation might not only damage US-Turkish co-operation, but could impede efforts by Turkey's Armenian community to persuade the country to come to terms with its past.
"Members of the Armenian-Turkish community tell us that such resolutions would stifle the dialogue they seek and would even raise popular emotions so dramatically as to threaten the progress they have made in Turkey," US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried said in a testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Europe on March 15th.
He also warned that if the legislation were passed, Turkey might respond by closing down the Incirlik air base, a key hub for air cargo shipments for US troops in Iraq. According to Fried, Ankara could also move to slow down traffic at the Habur gate on the border with Iraq, or restrict overflight rights for US aircraft.
"Turkey's contribution to the global war on terrorism and US strategic objectives in the region is significant – it would all be at risk," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Europe and NATO Daniel Fata told lawmakers at the same hearing on February 15th. Similar worries were expressed in joint identical letters sent by Rice and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior members of Congress.
Submitted on January 30th, Resolution 106, co-sponsored by nearly 180 US lawmakers, is expected to be put to the vote in the 435-member House of Representatives in April. A similar bill was introduced in the 100-seat Senate last week, with 21 of the body's members backing it.
Rep. Schiff says the legislation is needed in order to protect the moral authority of the United States in dealing with human rights atrocities, such as the killings in Darfur.
"More often with friends than foes you have to speak candidly," a UPI report quoted him as saying. "I happen to believe ... that the final act of genocide is the denial of genocide."
Both resolutions would be non-binding and have no legal bearing on US foreign policy. But their passage would serve as a rebuff to Turkey. It has long argued that the killings, rather than constituting genocide, were part of a general climate of instability in which Turks also died. Analysts say the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would face strong domestic pressure to respond.
After France last year passed a bill making it a crime to deny that the massacres of Armenians were a genocide, Turkey suspended all military ties with the country, suspending also military contracts that were already under discussion.
Recent months have seen increased lobbying efforts by senior Turkish officials, including Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Chief of the General Staff General Yasar Buyukanit.
A Turkish parliamentary delegation visited the United States last week to press Ankara's case against the bill, and representatives of the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association are currently in Washington for the same reason.
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[Errigal]

My choice would be for governments to stay out of the business of legislating an official version of history. Turkey should stay out of the EU but the Armenian Massacre should not become a political football. Look at all the Holocaust laws.

[Pirate]

I do believe that genocide happened against Armenians during WWI. Turkish arguments for denial of this genocide don't make much logic to me.

I don't understand this Turkish attitude - they want a friendly relationship with Armenia and yet they don't want to apologize for what they did to them.

Or Americans, lol. "What we've encouraged the Turks and the Armenians to do is to have joint historical commissions that can look at this, to have efforts to examine their past, and in examining their past to get over it,"

They're bunch of hypocrites - they preach other countries about genocides and murders and yet they don't want to condemn what Turks did to Armenians because "Turkey's contribution to the global war on terrorism and US strategic objectives in the region is significant".

[Marcus Marulus]

Originally Posted by A Few Acres of Snow

My choice would be for governments to stay out of the business of legislating an official version of history.

Indeed.

Originally Posted by A Few Acres of Snow

Turkey should stay out of the EU but the Armenian Massacre should not become a political football. Look at all the Holocaust laws.

Not that Turkey should stay out of the EU, but EU as such must be dismantled.

Now it's the question how to get out of that institution, and not about new members being admitted or not.

[Franze]

These Rice is outrageous, she is a horrible dhimmi like many anglosaxon people, they have the responsability of producing stupid muslims colonies like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Yemen, Sudan, Palestine, Somalia or others. Great Britain was a disaster in colonies.
And the american-turkish alliance is outrageous for Europe and europeans. Turkey must come back to the Central Asia and come back to Greece the old Minor Asia.

[Theobald]

Originally Posted by A Few Acres of Snow

My choice would be for governments to stay out of the business of legislating an official version of history. Turkey should stay out of the EU but the Armenian Massacre should not become a political football. Look at all the Holocaust laws.

Indeed. I believe the Armenian genocide happened, and it was a horrible crime, but I don't think any state should forbid denying any genocide, or any (pseudo-)historical fact. Many nationalists are happy with our local anti-Armenian genocide negationnism bill, but I am not.

Originally Posted by Peter

Turkey must come back to the Central Asia and come back to Greece the old Minor Asia.

Stop dreaming... I would already be happy if Turks were expelled out of Europe proper.

[Lucas Corso]

Originally Posted by A Few Acres of Snow

My choice would be for governments to stay out of the business of legislating an official version of history. Turkey should stay out of the EU but the Armenian Massacre should not become a political football. Look at all the Holocaust laws.

I agree, however this is a typical example of anglozionist double standard...