US to vote on Armenian allegations

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs will vote a draft resolution on Armenian allegations on Thursday, outcome of which is critical for not only Turkey-U.S. relations but also the recent rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia.

The draft which will be voted at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs with 46 members chaired by Californian legislator Howard Berman calls on U.S. President Barack Obama to recognise the tragic events of 1915 --which took place shortly before the fall of the Ottoman Sate-- as "genocide".

The draft resolution was proposed by Democrats Adam Schiff and Frank Pallone and Republicans George Radanovich and Mark Kirk, all important figures for the Armenian lobby in the U.S.

Turkey strongly rejects the genocide allegations and regards the events as civil strife in wartime which claimed lives of many Turks and Armenians.

Every year between March 4 and April 24 alarm bells ring for relations between Turkey and U.S., two close allies for decades.

The Armenian lobbies in the U.S. pressure the U.S. legislators to pass a resolution urging the President to recognise the events as "genocide".

Turkish legislators and officials pay visits to U.S. House and hold meetings with senior U.S. officials and businessmen to prevent the resolution from being adopted.

If the resolution is adopted then it is sent to the House of Representatives.

A similar resolution was adopted with 27 seven votes against 21 in 2007 but as a result of former President George W. Bush's intervention, the resolution was not brought to the House floor.

Even if the resolution is adopted both in the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House floor, it is not binding for the Obama administration, however it will show that legislators are sensitive about the issue.

Delegation of Turkish legislators who are lobbying against the resolution say it will be a close call. They say the resolution will be adopted or rejected with only a few votes.

With only a couple of hours left before the voting, the Obama administration has not taken a clear stance regarding the resolution.

U.S. Department of State spokesman, Philip Crowley, urged the two countries to look forward to the future rather than dwelling in the past while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Turkey and Armenia should review their own history together as part of their efforts to normalise relations.

Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan drew attention to the promising process of normalisation of relations between Turkey and Armenia which began with the signing of two protocols in Switzerland, warning that adoption of the resolution on March 4, or a statement by U.S. President Obama on April 24 that will please the Armenian lobby would cast a serious blow to the normalisation process.

Murat Mercan, chair of the Turkish Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, who has been lobbying in the U.S. Congress against the resolution, said neither Turkey, the U.S. nor Armenia would benefit from adoption of the resolution, noting that it would only satisfy the ego of the Armenian lobby.


/World Bulletin/