Armenia concerned about fate of proposed genocide resolution in U.S. Congress

Vardan Oskanian, in Washington on Monday for meetings with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and members of Congress on wide-ranging topics that included the proposed genocide resolution, said in an interview that Armenia feels compelled to discuss the resolution because of public warnings by Turkey against its passage.

"Governments should stay away from meddling in these matters," Oskanian told The Associated Press. "But when topics of interest for Armenia are being discussed, we cannot remain as a government indifferent, particularly in light of Turkish lobbying at a government level."

The comments follow recent visits to Washington by top Turkish officials including Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who warned last month that the resolution, if passed, would harm Turkish-American relations.

The White House, which also sees the issue as a threat to relations with Turkey, has been trying to quash the legislation.

Armenian-American groups have been thwarted for years in efforts to get a resolution through the U.S. Congress. The bill introduced in the House of Representatives in January is thought to stand a much better chance of passing a floor vote but would require support from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be offered for consideration.

Armenians, supported by numerous scholars, contend that Turkey's predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire, caused the Armenian deaths in a genocide. They have been adamant that the killings be recognized as among history's worst atrocities.

The Turkish government contends the 1.5 million death toll is wildly inflated. It also says the Armenians were killed or displaced in civil unrest during the disarray that surrounded the empire's collapse.

Turkey illustrated how seriously it takes the issue in October, when it said it would suspend military operations with France after French lawmakers voted to make it a crime to deny that the killings were genocide.

Oskanian said that the Turkish warnings were an attempt to silence critics of Turkey's position on genocide abroad as it has domestically through its penal code.

"Now Turks are traveling to punish the United States if the U.S. Congress dares to speak out about the genocide," he said.

Oskanian said he discussed the resolution with Rice in Monday's meeting; which also focused on broader relations with Turkey; negotiations with Azerbaijan to settle their dispute over the territory of Nagorno Karabakh; and on preparations for Armenia's elections in May. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/