Articles on US House Vote

From The Times
March 5, 2010
Pragmatism, politics and the festering wound of Armenian 'genocide'
Tony Halpin: analysis

The political battle in the United States over recognition of the Armenian

genocide boils down to a simple calculation: is the cost in spoilt relations with

Turkey outweighed by respect for the memory of 1.5 million victims?

President Obama promised during his election campaign to recognise the

massacres of 1915-23 as genocide at the annual commemoration on

April 24, saying: “I believe that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation,

a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact

supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence . . . As President,

I will recognise the Armenian Genocide.”

He ducked out last year, arguing that he was supporting the historic “football

diplomacy” that led Armenia and Turkey to sign protocols establishing

diplomatic relations. Those protocols, which include a planned commission

on historical issues, are now bogged down by objections in Turkey, adding

to fears in Ankara that Mr Obama will keep his pledge this time. US

presidents routinely mark April 24 with statements acknowledging the

massacres while bowing to Turkish demands not to label them “genocide”.

George W. Bush called them “historic mass killings”, President Clinton settled

on “deportations and massacres”, while Mr Obama used the Armenian term

“Meds Yeghern” or “Great Catastrophe”.

Ankara has warned that US recognition would seriously damage relations.

It argues that the slaughter that took place as the Ottoman Empire crumbled

during the First World War was not genocide but part of a civil conflict that

killed between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and a similar number of

Turks. As Nato’s only Muslim member, with an important US air base at

Incirlik and involvement in key American defence projects such as the

troubled F35 fighter jet, Turkey has numerous cards to play.
But while it continually threatens Nato allies with repercussions, relations

with Russia, which has always recognised the Armenian genocide, have

never been warmer. Pragmatism in cosying up to its principal gas supplier

apparently trumps the tub-thumping employed in the US.

The British Government has been similarly spineless on the Armenian

question, despite ample contemporary evidence, as a recent study, by

Geoffrey Robertson, of Foreign and Commonwealth Office evasiveness

showed. It refuses even to allow the Armenian genocide to be mentioned

on National Holocaust Memorial Day for fear of upsetting Turkey.

The irony is that modern Turkey is not being blamed for the past. Armenia

has recognised its current borders and has repeatedly stated that it has

no claims on land in eastern Turkey that once formed western Armenia.
Reparations will be an issue for the reconciliation process. But for the

dwindling number of survivors and millions of descendants in Armenia’s

global diaspora, Turkish recognition of their suffering and an apology

would be the most valuable reparation of all.

Comments on community.timesonline.co.uk :

Krishna Kumar wrote:
Many Muslim nations divert guilt by pointing to something else. Then

there are spins and excuses too. Turkey’s spins and excuses on the

crimes committed are nothing unusual. The US has at least delivered

some solace and justice to the poor and helpless victims! Many fled to

the US!

Turkey needs the US and allies more. If the US and allies don’t help

Turkey, Kurdistan is given. Thanks for strong condemnation of

the British govt!


Gregg Kimball wrote:
As an American of both English and Armenian descent, I have no

direct link to the Genocide. I lost distant relations I would most likely

never have met had they lived. Additionally, as the son of a daughter

of the Armenian diaspora, I most likely wouldn't exist if not for a history

of Turkish atrocities perpetrated against ethnic Armenians--just as

Sasha and Malea Obama would not exist but for the African slave trade!

That being said, thinking human beings do not deny history, no matter

how painful or inconvenient. Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer and a

Jewish refugee from Nazi Europe, coined the word "genocide" to

describe what happened to the Armenian population of Ottoman Turkey

from 1915-18. That fact should render any further debate pointless.

JL Ronish wrote:
I always assumed it was a true event but now I see Obama so sure

about it I may have to look again.

Wayne Dawson wrote:
The official excuse for the Armenian Genocide from the Turkish

government is that Turkey was fighting for its life and did not want a

potential fifth column of Armenian freedom fighters in its rear as it

prepared to face the ANZAC troops at Gallipoli. Coincidentally,

April the 24th, 1915, is the date of the landings and the beginning of

the massacres; the Turkish government has claimed a causal link

between the two. The fact is the Armenians experienced this kind of

treatment before with the Hamidian Massacres of 1894-1896

(Hamidian paramilitary outfits made up of Kurdish irregulars). As with

the Hamidian Massacres, Kurds were used against the Armenians

again in 1915. This clearly represented an ongoing policy that dates

back into the late nineteenth century. An apology is long overdue.

Think Thank wrote:
There is no irony to it, as a matter of fact Armenians have more right

to claim a land that belonged to them thousands of years until the

beginning of the 20th century than Israelis who claim West Bank or

Golan Heights which did not belong to them for thousands of years.
It is far too complicated for me.

The Financial Times
Turkey recalls ambassador over US vote
By Daniel Dombey in Costa Rica and Delphine Strauss in Ankara
Published: March 4 2010 18:06 | Last updated: March 4 2010 22:29

Turkey has said it will recall its ambassador from the US after a vote
in a US Congressional panel put Barack Obama's bid to deepen the two
countries' ties to its biggest test.

The move came after the House Foreign Affairs Committee backed a
resolution describing the Ottoman-era massacres of 1.5m Armenians as
`genocide'.

`We condemn this draft resolution, accusing the Turkish nation with a
crime that it has not committed,' the Turkish government said. `This
decision, which could adversely affect our co-operation on a wide
common agenda with the US, also regrettably attests to a lack of
strategic vision.'

US-Turkish ties are already strained as Washington seeks to convince a
sceptical Ankara to back sanctions against Iran.

The narrow 23-22 vote in the committee also came after a last minute
plea by Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, who argued it would
endanger a Turkish and Armenian agreement for reconciliation she
helped to broker last October.

`I do not think it is for any other country to determine how two
countries resolve matters between them,' Mrs Clinton said during a
Latin American tour on Thursday. `We do not believe that any action by
the Congress is appropriate and we oppose it.'

She added that the administration did not believe the full House of
Representatives `either will or should' vote on the resolution.

Turkey, with Nato's second biggest army and an increasingly
influential voice in the Middle East, is a critical regional ally for
the US. It is also an important market for the US aerospace industry,
which opposed the resolution.

But in spite of the personal call from Mrs Clinton, Howard Berman,
chairman of the foreign affairs committee, urged colleagues to support
the resolution.

`It is now time for Turkey to accept the reality of the Armenian
genocide,' Mr Berman said. `This will most likely be a difficult and
painful process for the Turkish people, but at the end of the day it
will strengthen Turkish democracy and put the US-Turkey relationship
on a better footing.'

Ankara denies genocide and says thousands of Turks also died in the
turbulent last years of the Ottoman empire.

Last autumn Turkey signed joint protocols with Armenia aiming to
restore diplomatic ties and open the border. Mr Obama called on
Abdullah Gul, Turkey's president, this week to speed ratification.

But that agreement is close to disintegrating. Armenia is frustrated
by Turkey's refusal to put the protocols to a vote in parliament until
there is progress in the intractable dispute between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, its ally and gas supplier, over the Armenian-occupied
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Both the genocide debate and Nagorno-Karabakh stir nationalist
sensitivities in Turkey, where anti-US feeling runs high.

The congressional resolution urges the US president to describe the
1915 killings as genocide in an address commemorating the events on
April 24. In spite of a pre-election promise, Mr Obama avoided the
word last year and is likely to maintain that position.

However, in spite of Mr Berman's decision to take the resolution to a
committee vote, Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of
Representatives, has not committed herself to a full vote. `No
decision has been made yet whether to bring the bill to the floor,'
said a Democratic aide.

Unless Ms Pelosi opts to take the resolution to the full House it
could expire at the end of this year. In the past she has given
higher-profile support to a genocide resolution, only to backtrack
after pressure from the White House and elsewhere.

RFE/RL Report

U.S. House Panel Backs Armenian Genocide Bill
Howard L. Berman (CA-28), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, undated
05.03.2010
Emil Danielyan

Ignoring stern warnings from Ankara, a key committee of the U.S. House
of Representatives narrowly approved on Thursday a resolution that
recognizes the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as
genocide and urges President Barack Obama to do the same.

Armenia welcomed the development immediately after the Foreign Affairs
Committee endorsed the measure by a margin of just one vote. `We
highly appreciate the decision by the Committee on Foreign Affairs of
the United States House of Representatives to adopt Resolution 252 on
the recognition of the Armenian genocide,' Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian said in a statement.

`This is another proof of the devotion of the American people to
universal human values and is an important step toward the prevention
of the crimes against humanity,' he said.

By contrast, Turkey condemned the committee vote and recalled its
ambassador to Washington "for consultations." `We condemn this
resolution accusing Turkey of a crime that it has not committed,' the
Turkish prime minister's office said in a written statement reported
by `Hurriyet Daily News.'`Our Ambassador to Washington Namik Tan was
recalled tonight to Ankara for consultations after the development.'

Howard Berman, the Democratic chairman of the House committee and a
strong backer of the resolution, put it to a vote despite reported
pressure from the Obama administration. The White House said
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned Berman on Wednesday
to warn that the legislation could harm efforts to normalize
Turkish-Armenian relations.

"Secretary Clinton called Chairman Berman yesterday and in that
conversation the secretary indicated that further Congressional action
could impede progress on normalization of relations," Reuters news
agency quoted U.S. National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer as
saying.

Hammer also said Obama called Turkish President Abdullah Gul on
Wednesday to urge quick ratification of the U.S.-brokered
Turkish-Armenian normalization agreements signed in October.

`The vast majority of experts, academics, authorities in international
law and others, who have looked at this issue for years, agree that
the tragic massacres of the Armenians constitutes genocide,' Berman
said, opening a committee debate on the politically sensitive bill.

The California lawmaker acknowledged that Turkey, which vehemently
denies any premeditated effort to wipe out the Ottoman Empire's
Armenian population, is a `vital ally' of the United States. `Be that
as it may, nothing justifies Turkey's turning a blind eye to the
reality of the Armenian genocide,' he said.

Opponents of the resolution warned that Turkish retaliation against
genocide recognition could deal a serious blow to the ongoing
U.S. military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and lead to the closure
of a key U.S. military base in southeastern Turkey. They said the
resolution's passage could also undermine the implementation of the
Turkish-Armenian agreements. Some of them emphasized the fact those
agreements call for the formation of a Turkish-Armenian
inter-governmental panel that would look into the events of 1915.

Several resolution opponents also made clear that they believe the
slaughter of more than one million Armenian subjects of the Ottoman
Empire did amount to a genocide. But as one of them, congressman Mike
Pence of Indiana, pointed out, `now is not the time' for the United
States to officially affirm that. `Turkey is a strategic partner in
our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq,' he argued.

`For us, to ram this thing through and jeopardize our relationship
with Turkey at a time when our troops are on the field and we are in
war makes no sense to me,' said Dan Burton, another Indiana
Republican.

`We need to ensure that our decisions and our actions concerning the
resolution before us do not have unintended consequences that could
place at risk critical U.S. security interests, our operations in
Afghanistan and Iraq, and our troops serving in harm's way,' agreed
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican.

But Berman dismissed such arguments. `The Turks say passing this
resolution could have terrible consequences for our bilateral
relationship and, indeed, perhaps there will be some consequences,' he
said. `But I believe that Turkey values its relationship with the
United States at least as much as we value our relations with Turkey.

`And I believe the Turks, however deep their dismay today,
fundamentally agree that the U.S.-Turkish alliance is simply too
important to get sidetracked by a non-binding resolution passed by the
House of Representatives.'

The ensuing committee vote lasted more than 90 minutes. Visiting
parliamentarians from Armenia and Turkey as well as representatives of
the Armenian and Turkish communities in the U.S. present at the
proceedings waited anxiously as U.S. legislators took their time
voting for or against the genocide bill. It was passed by 23 votes to
22.

The two main Armenian-American advocacy groups, which have for decades
been lobbying for U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide, were
quick to hail the outcome. `We are pleased that the resolution passed
with the composition of the committee being more adverse to us than in
decades and in the face of extreme tactics,' a leader of the Armenian
Assembly of America told RFE/RL's Armenian service from Washington.

`The truth prevailed in the end,' Elizabeth Chouldjian, a spokeswoman
for the Armenian National Committee of America, told the Yerevan-based
Yerkir-Media television. `The Turkish pressure proved futile.'

While approval by the Foreign Affairs Committee was indispensable for
progress of the resolution, prospects for its discussion and adoption
by the full House of Representatives anytime soon remain
uncertain. The committee already backed similar bills in 2000, 2002
and 2007. But strong pressure from the previous U.S. administrations
prevented them from reaching the House floor.

It was also not immediately clear just how the development will affect
the implementation of the Turkish-Armenian agreements. Ankara warned
before the vote that the genocide resolution would make their
ratification by Turkey's parliament even less likely.

In a separate statement issued earlier on Thursday, Nalbandian
denounced his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu's reported remark
that the Turkish government could easily ensure the ratification if it
wanted to. `Thus, Turkey is admitting that it has been artificially
dragging out the ratification process,' he said. `This is a clear
breach of our understandings.'

Washington Post

The Influence Industry

Armenia-Turkey dispute over genocide label sets off lobbying frenzy

By DAN EGGEN

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Each year, Armenian Americans remember the massacres of hundreds

of thousands of men, women and children in the aftermath of World War I.

And each year, Congress becomes embroiled in a bitter debate between

Armenia and Turkey over whether to label the episode as genocide.

The dispute has set off a lobbying frenzy this year in the House Foreign

Affairs Committee. Chairman Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.) is scheduled

to hold a vote Thursday on a nonbinding resolution that calls on President

Obama to formally refer to the 1915 massacre as genocide and to use the

term during an annual address on the topic next month.

The resolution underscores the depth of emotion on both sides over whether

Armenians, many of whom settled in the United States, were the target of a

concerted campaign of ethnic cleansing nearly a century ago amid the

collapse of the Ottoman Empire. It also poses a thorny political quandary

for Obama and two of his top aides, Vice President Biden and Secretary

of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, all of whom strongly supported labeling the

massacre as genocide when they were in the Senate. The resolution has

prompted an aggressive push by the government of Turkey and its lobbying

firm led by former House majority leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), who

had urged recognition of the Armenian genocide when he was in Congress.

Public-relations firm Fleishman-Hillard also has a contract with Turkey worth

more than $100,000 a month, records show.

A contingent of members of the Turkish parliament visited Washington this

week before the vote to meet with key lawmakers of both parties, warning

that approval of the genocide resolution would hurt relations between the two

countries, including cooperation with the United States on the wars in

Afghanistan and Iraq. A similar vote in committee in 2007 led Turkey to recall

its U.S. ambassador and prompted a furious effort by the Bush administration

to scuttle a full House vote.

Turkish officials also argue that a genocide resolution could imperil an

emerging agreement between Turkey and neighboring Armenia to normalize

ties.

"Our message is very straightforward: This resolution that is coming up to the

committee will hamper Turkish-American relations and is not helpful for relations

between Turkey and Armenia," said Murat Mercan, a member of the ruling

Justice and Development Party (AKP) who serves as chairman of the foreign

affairs committee in the Turkish parliament.

Armenian American groups strongly disagree and say they are confident that

the resolution will be approved. "Our position is that the U.S. affirmation of the

Armenian genocide should not be held hostage to Turkey-Armenia relations,"

said Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America.

The Turkish government has spent millions on Washington lobbying over the

past decade, much of it focused on the Armenian genocide issue. The country's

current lobbyist, the Gephardt Group, collects about $70,000 a month for

lobbying services from the government in Ankara, according to federal

disclosure records.

Another group, the Turkish Coalition of America, has targeted the districts of

committee members who are considered potential swing votes, including

submitting op-eds to local newspapers from the group's president.

The Armenian government, which previously enlisted BKSH & Associates and

Burson-Marsteller, does not currently have a U.S. representative on file,

according to Justice Department records of foreign lobbyists. But several

well-organized Armenian American groups are active in attempting to influence

Congress, including the Armenian National Committee and the Armenian

Assembly of America, which together spent about $380,000 on lobbying last

year.

Armenian American communities in California, Massachusetts and New York

have also provided crucial political support to Democrats in recent years,

including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Armenian-related political

action committees have given members of Congress about $83,000 in

campaign contributions since 2007, most of that to Democrats, according to

Federal Election Commission records. The Turkish Coalition PAC, meanwhile,

has doled out $173,000 in donations during the same period, with a slight

preference for Republicans.

The chief executives of defense contractors Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon,

United Technologies and Northrop Grumman have also weighed in, writing in a

letter to Berman this week that the resolution risks "alienating a significant NATO

ally and trading partner." The Armenian National Committee of America blasted

the letter as "morally reprehensible."

Lobbying is in good health

The Center for Public Integrity released another eye-opening report this month

highlighting the sheer scale of the lobbying effort surrounding health-care reform.

Using public disclosure records, the watchdog group calculated that 1,750

companies and groups hired 4,525 lobbyists to work on the issue last year. To

put it another way: That's more than eight health-care lobbyists for each member

of Congress.