Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

Turkey relieved Congressional genocide resolution shelved
by Seva Ulman - Virtual NY (UPI)
Posted: Saturday, October 21, 2000 01:05 am CST

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct.20 (UPI) -- Turkish government circles heaved sighs of relief Friday and thanked the U.S. administration following the shelving of a Congressional resolution accusing the Turks of genocide.

Had the House of Representatives adopted the resolution, relations between the United States and Turkey, one of its most important allies, would have been seriously harmed, Turkish officials had warned. Instead, the House Thursday shelved the resolution.

Foreign Minister Ismail Cem Friday described the shelving as the retraction of a gross mistake. The shelving, he said, ended proceedings flooded with "fallacious and unwarranted accusations against Turkey."

The draft non-binding resolution would have accepted that the Turks in the last years of the Ottoman Empire had committed genocide in killing Armenians in 1915. Turks admit that very many Armenians did die at Turkish hands but that the figure of 1.5 million claimed by the Armenians is grossly exaggerated. Turks also argue that the Armenians were disloyal subjects of the empire who allied themselves with Russia. Turkey was at war with Russia when forced displacements and massacres took place during World War I. More important, the Turks insist it was never the intention of the Ottoman authorities to wipe out the Armenian people and so no genocide was committed.

Cem thanked the Clinton administration for the resolution's failure. Its adoption, he told reporters, was prevented by serious efforts by the administration."

Clinton, Cem said, cited grave U.S. national security considerations and far-reaching negative consequences in persuading Speaker Dennis Hastert not to bring the resolution to the House floor.

In Washington, Congressional observers said that before the shelving, Republican members of the House Committee on International Relations came under strong pressure to approve the resolution so as to help Republicans candidates in the coming November elections that have Armenian communities in their districts.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit Friday sent a letter to Clinton thanking him for the "determined efforts" by the U.S. president and others to block the resolution.

"I convey to you the gratitude of the Turkish people and myself," Ecevit said, reading from his letter. Clinton, he said, "would be remembered as the true friend of Turkey."

Turkey reacted swiftly when the draft resolution was approved by the House committee on Oct. 3.

Turkish parliamentary deputies threatened that if the whole House adopted the resolution, they would vote against renewing the mandate for U.S. Air Force use of a base at Incirlik in southeastern Turkey. The U.S. uses Incirlik to mount air patrols over Northern Iraq. Permission to use Incirlik is voted on every six months by the Turkish Grand Assembly and the next vote is set for December.

Turkish Defense Ministry officials warned that if the resolution was adopted, they might end negotiations on a $4.5 billion-tender with US firm Bell Textron for the purchase of 145 attack helicopters while The Energy Ministry said it might re-consider energy projects in which U.S. firms were involved.

Turkish Chief of General-Staff, Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu cancelled his planned visit to Washington at the invitation of his American counterpart, Gen. Henry H. Shelton. It was not immediately known whether Kivrikoglu would now go ahead with the visit.

Asked how Ankara's policy with the neighboring Republic of Armenia would be shaped now, the prime minister said two conditions would have to be met for Ankara to restore diplomatic and economic relations with Yerevan. One was that the "historical mistake of alleged genocide" be corrected. The other was that the Armenians withdraw from Azerbaijani territory, he said, referring to the 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory occupied by Armenians since the Yerevan-supported successful rising in the Armenian-populated Azeri enclave of Nagorno Karabakh that ended with a truce in 1993.

Cem accused Armenia of "clinging to allegations in history in order to build up a national identity."

Turkish media lauded the shelving of the Armenian resolution in their Friday issues.

"Vengeance loses, friendship gains," the popular daily Hurriyet said in a banner headline. Another popular daily, Sabah, said the issue was solved thanks to the Ankara's pressure and Clinton's warnings.

(Derk Kinnane Roelofsma in Washington contributed to this story) United Press International.

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