Bush opposes Armenian genocide measure
 

WASHINGTON - President Bush urged Congress to reject legislation Wednesday that would say it was a genocide when thousands of Armenians were killed around the time of World War I.


The House Foreign Affairs Committee prepared to vote on a measure that Turkey says could damage ties with the United States. Turkey is a NATO ally and a major staging area for U.S. military operations in Iraq and the Middle East.

Passing the resolution, Bush said, "would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror."

The committee chairman, Rep. Tom Lantos, cited the potential fallout if the proposal passed. Lantos, a Hungarian-born survivor of the Holocaust, supported a similar resolution two years ago.

"We have to weigh the desire to express our solidarity with the Armenian people ... against the risk that it could cause young men and women in the uniform of the United States armed services to pay an even heavier price than they are currently paying," said Lantos, D-Calif.

Turkey raised the possibility of impeding logistical and other U.S. military traffic now using Turkish airspace.

Earlier, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates conveyed their concerns.

Passing the measure "at this time would be very problematic for everything we are trying to do in the Middle East," Rice said told reporters at the White House.

Gates said that 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey, as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military in Iraq.

"Access to airfields and to the roads and so on in Turkey would very much be put at risk if this resolution passes and Turkey reacts as strongly as we believe they will," Gates said. He also said that 95 percent of new vehicles designed to better protect against mine attacks are being flown through Turkey to get to Iraq.

Lawmakers from both parties who supported the proposal said the moral implications outweighed security concerns and friendship with Turkey.

"The sad truth is that the modern government of Turkey refuses to come to terms with this genocide," said Rep. Chris Smith, R.-N.J. "For Armenians everywhere, the Turkish government's denial is a slap in the face."

The vote comes at a tense time in the region. Turkey's government is seeking parliamentary approval for a military operation to chase separatist Kurdish rebels who operate from bases in northern Iraq. The move, opposed by the U.S., could open a new front in the most stable part of Iraq.

"I have been trying to warn the (U.S.) lawmakers not to make a historic mistake," said Egemen Bagis, a close foreign policy adviser to Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Yet with the House's first order of business Wednesday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi made clear that Turkey's position was a hard sell. She introduced the Supreme Patriarch of all Armenians, Karekin II, to deliver the morning prayer ? a daily ritual intended to be apolitical.

"With the solemn burden of history, we remember the victims of the genocide of the Armenians," Karekin said in the House. "Give peace and justice on their descendants."

Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said the timing of Karekin's visit was a coincidence. Rep. Joe Knollenberg, a Republican, had requested the leader deliver a morning prayer earlier this year. The House chaplain arranged the visit based on Karekin's schedule and was not aware of the committee's plans, Elshami said.

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara warned U.S. citizens in Turkey about "demonstrations and other manifestations of anti-Americanism" if the bill moved ahead. Protests were reported Wednesday outside the embassy and the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul.

At issue is the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, says the toll has been inflated and insists that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Pelosi and the second-ranking Democrat in the House, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, met Wednesday with Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy but emerged from the meeting unswayed. Hoyer told reporters he expects a floor vote on the measure before the House adjourns for the year.

Hoyer said he hoped that Turkey would realize it is not a condemnation of its current government but rather of "another government, at another time."

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Associated Press writer Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

jesus, it was ww1, it's done and over, get over it.

Genocide is something that should be condemned, but the timing on this is very very bad. It could influence the outcome of the war on terror.

What was it then?

Is this just to get it written into the history books? Why the hard push lately for this to be "recognized"?

must be a slow news day

say that to a jewish holocaust victim :

jesus, it was ww2, it's done and over, get over it.

:2 cents:

What is this "war on terror" you speak of? Anyone remember the genocide of the Native American Indian? How about the genocide of Japanese civilians? Or the genocide of slaves throughout history? America condemning genocide is like Opra condemning talk TV or cake. American law makers acting self righteous is common and there must be something behind it. :disgust

bush sux! and us goverment sux too!

Is your middle name MORON?

every country of this world recognizes Armenian Genocide..

the only fucker to not recognizes are the fucking spaniards....

estupidos españoles idiotas y nazis...

who gives a fuck it was ww1,they dont have anything to do with current fucking events.

You're a douchebag, get over it.

To answer your question who gives a fuck? I do, and millions of other people care about it.

There are millions of us here who care

Yeah well during a war people get killed, same amount of people died on Turkish side but nobody every talks about that.. Game on..

no ones holding anyones mouth shut. if someone wants to talk or had ANY room to talk they would.

Oh yes people do talk but some people don't listen, or they actually listen but they act like they are morrons (actually they are) and don't understand.

Why the hell should Turkey cry around and suck dick so countries recognize that some people died during a war.

Go blame the ottoman empire who was actually in this war.. O wait, there is no ottoman empire left so what the fuck are we discussing actually ?

well if the US wants to have a base where they can get anywhere in the middle east, then they can't piss off Turkey. Yes I know.. saudi arabia has a base too
but turkey is closer to Russia and they just put in shit lood of $$ before the war in Iraq started.

So he's not gonan lose his connection there. It's what it basically comes down to. He not gonan piss off Turkey