Turks warn U.S. over genocide vote
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has warned the U.S. that a congressional bill recognizing the mass killings of Armenians during World War One as genocide could cause “serious problems” for relations between the two countries.
The resolution was passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee by a 27-21 vote — the first step towards a full House vote — on Wednesday evening despite opposition from U.S. President George W. Bush.Reacting to the vote on his Web site, Gul said the resolution was “unacceptable” and “doesn’t fit a major power like the United States.”
I am certainly not an expert on the history of this, from what I know it was certainly horrible and would be considered a war crime, at least according to modern sensibilities. The arguments that it was a genocide are plausible, but other interpretations have some merit too.
In any event, it doesn’t seem wise to me for our congress to bother with this. I would much rather see them focus on the real problems of our time, the horrible events that are happening now, rather then debate the classification of something that happened nearly 100 years ago. I hardly think that the depredations of the Ottomon Empire are the most urgent business that the house foreign relations commitee needs to confront.
That leaves asside the very real fact that Turkey is an important ally, one that is already slipping away from us. It may well represent one of best resources in battling terror. That of course doesn’t mean that historians shouldn’t be perfectly free to debate this issue, or classify these events as genocide, but it isn’t something that our government needs to get involved with.
Of course it is much easier to raise righteous indignation over the evils of the past then it is to confront the evils of the present.
Hmmm, interesting article in this morning’s Herald on the Kurd’s current push for the establishment of a Kurdistan.
Now that might seem disconnected, but given that -
Turkey has been seeking approval for hot pursuit of Turkish Kurds operating out of north Iraq for some time;
Kurdistan would include quite a chunk of north-east Turkey (as much as 1/3rd of Turkey) and part of Armenia;
there is a lot of pressure on Turkey from a different direction as well.
So -
I agree that Congress’ resolution is perhaps ill-timed.
However, it also gives the opportunity for Turkey to put up the bed-screens and with attention diverted elsewhere indulge in a little “cross-border police work”. After all the US has proven itself many times to be very blind when the need arises, huh? And the presence of “friends” helping out on the fringes of Iraq does no harm either. Next thing we know the Kurds will be telling the world that they have nucular weapons.