US House Foreign Affairs Committee approves Armenian Genocide Resolution‏

Washington, DC -

By a vote of 23 to 22 the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee

approved H.Res. 252, the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

BBC News
US vote attacks Turkey 'genocide'
4 March 2010

A US congressional panel has described the killing of Armenians by
Turkish forces during World War I as genocide, despite White House

objections.

The resolution was narrowly approved by the House Foreign Affairs

Committee.

Turkey, a key US ally, responded by recalling its ambassador in

Washington for consultations. It has fiercely opposed the non-binding

resolution. The White House had warned that the vote would harm

reconciliation talks between Turkey and Armenia.

The resolution calls on President Barack Obama to ensure that US

foreign policy reflects an understanding of the "genocide" and to label

the World War I killings as such in his annual statement on the issue.

It was approved by 23 votes to 22 by the committee.

Within minutes the Turkish government issued a statement condemning

"this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it has not

committed".

The statement also said the Turkish ambassador was being recalled

for consultations.

A Turkish parliamentary delegation had gone to Washington to try to

persuade committee members to reject the resolution.

Turkey accepts that atrocities were committed but argues they were

part of the war and that there was no systematic attempt to destroy the

Christian Armenian people.

The Armenian government welcomed the vote, calling it "an important

step towards the prevention of crimes against humanity".

In 2007, a similar resolution passed the committee stage, but was

shelved before a House vote after pressure from the George W Bush

administration.

'Too important'

During his election campaign Mr Obama promised to brand the mass

killings genocide.

Before the vote, committee chairman Howard Berman urged fellow

members of the committee to endorse the resolution.

"I believe that Turkey values its relationship with the United States at

least as much as we value our relations with Turkey," he said.

The Turks, he added, "fundamentally agree that the US-Turkish alliance

is simply too important to get side-tracked by a non-binding resolution

passed by the House of Representatives".

In October last year, Turkey and Armenia signed a historic accord

normalising relations between them after a century of hostility.

Armenia wants Turkey to recognise the killings as an act of genocide,

but successive Turkish governments have refused to do so.

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, when they were

deported en masse from eastern Anatolia by the Ottoman Empire.

They were killed by troops or died from starvation and disease.

Armenians have campaigned for the killings to be recognised

internationally as genocide - and more than 20 countries have done

so.

Articles that appeared before the vote:


CONGRESS URGED NOT TO ACT ON ARMENIAN RESOLUTION
AP
March 4, 2010 03:36 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is urging Congress to
hold off on a resolution declaring that the Ottoman-era killing of
Armenians was genocide.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee scheduled a vote on the resolution
for Thursday, and appeared likely to endorse it.

ButWhite House spokesman Mike Hammer says on Wednesday Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke with Committee Chairman Howard
Berman and indicated the vote would jeopardize reconciliation talks
between Turkey and Armenia.

The move breaks a campaign promise by President Barack Obama to brand
the killings genocide.

Turkey is a NATO ally important to U.S. interests in the Middle East
and Afghanistan. Turkish officials have warned that the resolution
could jeopardize U.S-Turkish cooperation and set back negotiations
aimed at opening the border between Turkey and Armenia.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further
information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A resolution declaring that the Ottoman-era
killing of Armenians was genocide appears likely to be approved by
a congressional committee, a move that could alienate Turkey, a NATO
ally important to U.S. interests in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee was expected to endorse the
resolution Thursday, sending it to the full House, where prospects
for passage are uncertain. Even if the measure does not go beyond the
committee, Turkey warns it could jeopardize U.S-Turkish cooperation
and set back negotiations aimed at opening the border between Turkey
and Armenia.

The United States relies on Turkey as a key supply route for U.S.

troops in Iraq and its troops serve in the U.S.-led coalition forces
in Afghanistan. The United States also is pressing Turkey, which holds
a rotating seat in the U.N. Security Council, to support sanctions
against Iran, Turkey's neighbor.

The Foreign Affairs Committee approved a similar measure in 2007,
but it was not brought to the House floor for a vote after intensive
pressure from the Bush administration. This time, the Obama
administration has taken no public position.

Following the 2007 committee vote, Turkey promptly recalled its
ambassador, and U.S. officials feared passage by the full House might
prompt the Turks to cut off American access to a Turkish air base
essential to operations in Iraq.

The committee vote could prompt Turkey to recall its ambassador again.

Asked Thursday if his country would call home its envoy if the
measure is approved, a Turkish official said all options were being
considered. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of
the sensitivity of the issue.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says the resolution could damage
Turkish-U.S. ties and undermine reconciliation efforts with Armenia.

"If it passes, then the Obama administration should try to prevent
it from being voted by Congress," Turkey's state-run Anatolia news
agency quoted the Turkish foreign minister as saying.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will wait to see the result
of the committee vote before deciding whether to bring the resolution
before the full House.

Armenian-American groups for decades have sought congressional
affirmation of the killings as genocide. Historians estimate that
up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around
the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the
first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the deaths
constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and those
killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

In April, Obama broke a campaign promise to brand the killings genocide
in an annual White House statement on the day marking Armenian
remembrance. Obama said that while he had not changed his views,
he did not want to upset promising talks between Turkey and Armenia
on improving relations and opening their border. Turkey sealed the
border in 1993 to protest Armenia's war with neighboring Azerbaijan.

In October, Turkey and Armenia signed an agreement to normalize
relations, but Turkey has yet to ratify it. As progress toward a
breakthrough between the two countries appears stalled, it may be
harder for the Obama administration to oppose the resolution or
refrain from calling the killings genocide in this year's statement.



PROFITING FROM GENOCIDE DENIAL: DEFENSE INDUSTRY

CEO'S URGE CONGRESS TO OPPOSE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

LEGISLATION
Yerkir
04.03.2010 16:00

Yerevan (Yerkir) - Placing profit over human rights, the Chief
Executive Officers of five top defense firms have urged Congress to
block a measure calling for U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

\"Lobbying against genocide recognition for financial gain is morally
reprehensible - whether it\'s the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust
or the ongoing genocide in Darfur,\" said ANCA Executive Director
Aram Hamparian. \"The CEO\'s of Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon, United
Technologies and Northrop Grumman should be ashamed of themselves -
trampling on the memory of 1.5 million men, women and children to
justify their salaries.\"

In a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman,
just days before his Committee considers H.Res.252 - the Armenian
Genocide resolution , leaders of Lockheed Martin Corporation,
Boeing Corporation, Raytheon Corporation, United Technologies and
Northrop Grumman warned of \"alienating a significant NATO ally and
trading partner\" and \"negative repercussions for U.S. geopolitical
interests.\"

However trade statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development tell a different story. Turkey\'s trade levels with
countries, which have recognized the Armenian Genocide since 1995,
have increased between 24% and 351%. U.S. trade with Turkey has
increased ten-fold since President Ronald Reagan cited the Armenian
Genocide in a Presidential Proclamation in 1981.

\"The statistics prove that Turkey\'s doomsday trade scenarios are
hollow,\" said Hamparian. \"Once again, the Turkish lobby is using
threats and intimidation to gag America from speaking truthfully
about the Armenian Genocide.\"

Spearheaded by Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA), George Radanovich
(R-CA), and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), the Armenian
Genocide Resolution H.Res.252, calls upon the President to properly
characterize the annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915-1923
as genocide and 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.

The resolution currently has over 137 cosponsors. While in the Senate,
President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joseph Biden and Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton had supported similar legislation.

TURKEY BEGINS ANOTHER FIGHT AGAINST UNITED STATES'

RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Karine Ter-Sahakyan
PanARMENIAN.Net
02.03.2010 GMT+04:00

The ballyhoo used in the American and Turkish press aims to prepare
Armenia for the inevitable.

It has become a tradition for Turkey to begin a fight against United
States' recognition of the Armenian Genocide every year before
April 24. She may succeed this time too, taking into consideration
the fact that existence of the Turkish state depends on recognition
or non-recognition of the Armenian Genocide. However, voting in the
House Committee on Foreign Affairs will not change anything, like it
was in 2007.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ However, that has nothing to do with the Speaker,
or with the White House administration, which now more than ever
hardly desires strained relations with Turkey, and consequently with
the whole Islamic world. Thus, recognition or non-recognition of the
Armenian Genocide is a matter of human pragmatism and not a matter
of morality for the United States.

Turkey knows it perfectly well, and all this hype raised in the
American and Turkish press only aims at preparing Armenia for the
inevitable. That is, the Committee will approve and send it to the
House for voting. But because for final conclusion 228 votes are
necessary and this number cannot be reached even in the near future,
it can be assumed that this time too adoption of Resolution 252 will
be indefinitely shelved. We once wrote and would like to repeat that
this resolution is simply a House Resolution. It is not a law, but is
simply statement of a fact and nothing more. And the Diaspora is at
least naïve to believe that adoption of the resolution, even in the
form it now is, can make Turkey recognize the Armenian Genocide. They
say times have changed and the USA may be ready to go rather far
for normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. But the question is
how far the Obama administration will actually go and how good these
steps will appear to be for the Armenian people in general. It goes
without saying that evil must be punished and remembrance of victims
of the monstrous massacre should not become a bargaining chip. But,
unfortunately, it is exactly what recognition of the Armenian Genocide
has recently become for the USA and other countries. Let us note that
the Genocide has been recognized only by those countries, which do
not depend on Turkey. And cruel fate of the Armenian people has long
been a bargaining chip in the hands of the powerful, this situation
lasting for 95 years already. Or, at least, so it looks, if emotions
are left aside. By the way, emotions only deteriorate the situation,
and we should follow the example of Turkey, which simply says: it's
up to you to decide whether to adopt the resolution or to utter the
word "genocide" on April 24. But do not be offended if, after it,
the United States is considered an enemy, or at least an unfriendly
country, to Turkey and even to all of the Middle East.

All these considerations lead to the assumption that we'll witness the
same situation as in 2009. Thank God, there is no need to 'invent' a
new term. There exists "Mets Yeghern", which, by the way, is synonymous
with the term "genocide". However, a different development is also
possible, as, in the opinion of experts, the probability of adoption
of Resolution 252 is greater than ever. And here a question arises:
Is the Armenian nation, and the Diaspora in particular, ready for
such turn of affairs? We are afraid to be regarded as pessimists,
but it is exactly what the nation is unprepared for; the nation that
has been waiting for justice for 95 years, and has been consistently
getting recognition of evil for at least the last 40 years. Under
the present circumstances we would be delighted to be mistaken in
our considerations, but it is essential to realize that no one will
ever give back territories or pay compensation for nothing. They'll
have to pay for it, and the price may turn to be excessive...