Turkish general warns US over ties (Pelosi's mess)

Yahoo News/ AP ^ | 14 Oct 07 | C. ONUR ANT

[saganite]

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Turkey's top general warned that ties with the U.S., already strained by attacks from rebels hiding in Iraq, will be irreversibly damaged if Congress passes a resolution that labels the World War I-era killings of Armenians a genocide.

Turkey, which is a major cargo hub for U.S. and allied military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, has recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations and warned that there might be a cut in the logistical support to the U.S. over the issue.

Gen. Yasar Buyukanit told daily Milliyet newspaper that a congressional committee's approval of the measure had already harmed ties between the two countries.

"If this resolution passed in the committee passes the House as well, our military ties with the U.S. will never be the same again," Buyukanit was quoted as saying by Milliyet.

"I'm the military chief, I deal with security issues. I'm not a politician," Buyukanit was quoted as saying by Milliyet. "In this regard, the U.S. shot its own foot."

President Bush has said the resolution is the wrong response to the Armenian deaths, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the measure's timing was important "because many of the survivors are very old."

"It is a statement made by 23 other countries. We would be the 24th country to make this statement. Genocide still exists, and we saw it in Rwanda; we see it now in Darfur," she told ABC's "This Week" in an interview broadcast Sunday.

But Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the measure was "irresponsible."

"Listen, there's no question that the suffering of the Armenian people some 90 years ago was extreme. But what happened 90 years ago ought to be a subject for historians to sort out, not politicians here in Washington," he told "Fox News Sunday."

About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military there. U.S. bases also get water and other supplies carried in overland by Turkish truckers who cross into Iraq's northern Kurdish region.

In addition, C-17 cargo planes fly military supplies to U.S. soldiers in remote areas of Iraq from Incirlik, avoiding the use of Iraqi roads vulnerable to bomb attacks. U.S. officials say the arrangement helps reduce American casualties.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has "urged restraint" from Turkey and sent two high-ranking officials to Ankara in an apparent attempt to ease fury over the measure which could be voted on by the House by the end of the year.

Buyukanit's remarks were published a day after a visit by Dan Fried, assistant secretary of state for European affairs, and Eric Edelman, who is the undersecretary of defense for policy.

"Secretary of State Rice Condoleezza Rice asked us before we came here to express that the Bush administration is opposed to this resolution," Edelman said Saturday.

At issue in the resolution is the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Many international historians contend the World War I-era deaths amounted to genocide, but Turkey says the mass killings and deportations were not systematic and that many Turkish Muslims died in the chaos of war.

The congressional resolution comes as the Turkish parliament debates authorizing a military campaign into northern Iraq to root out rebels who seek a unified, independent nation for Kurds in the region.

U.S. officials have urged Turkey not to send troops and appealed for a diplomatic solution with Iraq. The Kurdish self-rule region in northern Iraq is one of the country's few relatively stable areas and the Kurds here are also a longtime U.S. ally.

A Kurdish rebel commander on Saturday said Turkey would face a long and bloody conflict if it launched a large-scale offensive in northern Iraq.

Speaking to The Associated Press deep in the Qandil mountains straddling the Iraq-Turkish border, some 94 miles from the northern Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, Murat Karayilan, head of the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, warned that an eventual Turkish incursion would "make Turkey experience a Vietnam war."

The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in southeast Turkey since 1984. The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Turkey says the rebels use Iraqi Kurdish territory as a safe haven. Iraqi and Kurdish authorities reject the claim.

___

[GiovannaNicoletta]

The democrats are also stupid because they actually believe that they can insult Turkey enough to cause them to stop assisting us in our war against al Queda thereby helping al Queda to establish Iraq as a terrorist state, all for the incredibly dumb purpose of making a president look bad who is in his last term of office, and none of what they did will ever be, like, written down or anything so nobody will ever know it was the rats who caused Iraq to become a terrorist state.

People with entrenched personality disorders never think about the consequences of their actions and they think that they are so much more brilliant than everyone else that they will never actually get caught and have to pay a price for their criminal behavior.

The epitome of the modern American democrat party.

[airborne]

If GW was so willing not to combat the Democrats, we would be pulling most of our troops out of Iraq and surrendering it to al Qaeda.

One thing has little to do with the other.

Holding his ground on pulling troops out of UIraq has to do with his legacy.

[maine-iac7]

I phoned my Congressmen (Specter, Casey and Tim Holden) and voiced my disgust with the Dems and Congress in general.

Good on you!

..

Also - the media has a formula they follow on deciding if or not to cover a given story...

X amount of calls, emails, etc - and it tips the scales.

We need to implement this...

call - email - phone!

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Turkey says the rebels use Iraqi Kurdish territory as a safe haven. Iraqi and Kurdish authorities reject the claim.

Oh yeah, MSM? Where's your source?

Turkish presence in northern Iraq coordinated with Kurdistan government-Kurdish PM, dated 8 August, 2007

"Arbil, Aug 7, (VOI)- Iraq's Kurdistan Prime Minister Negervan al-Barazani said on Tuesday the limited presence of some Turkish Commandos in northern Iraq came through coordination with Kurdistan government.

"'There is a Turkish presence in Kurdistan region and it came in coordination with the region government,' Kurdistan Premier Negervan al-Barazani told a news conference today afternoon in Arbil."

[WilliamofCarmichael]

This just in,

Kurdish MP urges govt. to cancel security agreement with Turkey . . . In September, Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bulani signed a security agreement with his Turkish counterpart concerning securing the borders between the two countries and tackling the presence of the Turkish banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in mountainous areas in northern Iraq. . . Media reports said that the agreement gave Turkey a right to chase the PKK's fighters in northern Iraq, a point denied by the Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.

[maine-iac7]

The epitome of the modern American democrat SOCIALIST party.

When are we going to recognize that the democrat party has been systematically and with great success infiltrated and taken over by card carrying Socialists - They belong to the

link:

http://www.dsausa.org/elements/topbanner.jpg

We need to start calling them what they are (they wont deny it, they're proud of it) and get it through to the general public. Most Americans don't realize how thoroughly the party has be taken over -

[maine-iac7]

SI

[melancholy]

Agreed.

A couple of days ago I summarized what the DUmbo traitors are trying to do in the long run:

They are not only trying to undercut our efforts in Iraq, but also playing “defense” against the possible bombing of Iran.

With Turkey not cooperating with us, we will not be able to use our air bases and Turkish air space, which will severely hamper an air campaign against Iran.

I believe President Bush will bomb Iran before leaving office and that will put the WOR and winning in the ME in the limelight; something the DUmbos couldn't afford in '08.

[KenHorse]

When are we going to recognize that the democrat party has been systematically and with great success infiltrated and taken over by card carrying Socialists

I have always said that Joe McCarthy was absolutely right and that the Commies who had already infiltrated key slots took him down.

It seems History will prove me right.....

[gitmogrunt]

Ummm errr, let's see, it's o.k. to bomb Orthodox Christian Serbs, and it's o.k. to massacre Armenians, many of whom were Orthodox Christians. The timing of this resolution will have no bearing on the success or failure of this politically correct war.

The Turks are getting big money for the trans shipment of U.S. cargo.They are not willing to give up that money, as easy as many of you are willing to give up the lives of other Christians who do not belong to your denomination, regardless of whether they died last week or one hundred years ago, at the hand of islamists.

[eleni121]

A dumbass move? You must be part of this faction: Jimmuh Carter (he said he would vote against it if he were in Congress) and all the DHIMMIS both dems and republicans who voted against this long past due declaration of humanity.

The genocide resolution must be passed by Congress in full...The best thing Congress has done in many years. It’s time for the endless money pit going to the parastate of Muslim Turkey to end.

[gitmogrunt]

Ya Sou!!Go Eleni, Go!!!

[eleni121]

This is latest example of the powerful and immoral Turkish Lobby that has brainwashed many here on this forum.

Their cowardice only amplifies the notion that justice must prevail.

First it was Dennis Hastert, then it was Dickie Gephart, and now we have Jane Harman.

I for one support and admire DUNCAN HUNTER who has already said he will vote for it...but then again he operates from a sense of morality and conscience...not a coward by any means.

[GiovannaNicoletta]

I believe President Bush will bomb Iran before leaving office and that will put the WOR and winning in the ME in the limelight; something the DUmbos couldn't afford in '08.

Exactly.

The democrats simply cannot afford to let President Bush be successful in his fight against terrorists because they know that neither they nor the people who vote for them have the stomach, the courage, or the love of freedom to fight this fight.

They know that there is already a comparison between the way their Caligula president, in his stupefying cowardice, did nothing during his eight years of opportunity to protect this country from those who would murder us all into submission to them. They will do everything in their power to keep President Bush from winning this war - their continued ability to be in positions of implementing socialism and global governance is at stake - and they will literally not allow anything or anyone to impede them from carrying out their agenda.

[syriacus]

The descendants of the holocaust victims deserve the minimal respect that this American proclamation shows.

They deserve respect and they've gotten respect, multiple times. I'm kind of surprised that so many people aren't aware that we have respected the Armenians in the past.

Armenian Genocide Legislation

S.RES.106: A resolution calling on the President 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 documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide

H.RES.106: Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution - Calling upon the President 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 documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes

S.RES.65: A resolution condemning the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist and human rights advocate Hrant Dink and urging the people of Turkey to honor his legacy of tolerance

H.RES.102: Condemning the assassination of human rights advocate and outspoken defender of freedom of the press, Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007

109TH CONGRESS (2005-2006)

S.RES.320: A resolution calling the President 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 documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide

H.RES.316: Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution - Calling upon the President 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 documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes

H.CON.RES.195: Commemorating the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, urging the Government of the Republic of Turkey to acknowledge the culpability of its predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire, for the Armenian Genocide and engage in rapprochement with the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian people, and supporting the accession of Turkey to the European Union if Turkey meets certain criteria

106TH CONGRESS (1999-2000)

H.RES.596: Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution - Calling upon the President 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 documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes

H.RES.398: United States Training on and Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Resolution - Calling upon the President to provide for appropriate training and materials to all Foreign Service officers, United States Department of State officials, and any other executive branch employee involved in responding to issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide, and for other purposes

H.RES.155: United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution - Calling upon the President to provide in a collection all United States records related to the Armenian genocide and the consequences of the failure to enforce the judgments of the Turkish courts against the responsible officials, and to deliver the collection to the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives, the library of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and to the Armenian Genocide Museum in Yerevan, Armenia

H.RES.625: Providing for consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 596) calling upon the President 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 documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes

105TH CONGRESS (1997-1998)

H.CON.RES. 55: Honoring the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide

104TH CONGRESS (1995-1996)

H.CON.RES.47: Honoring the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide

H.AMDT.1130 (A019, by Rep Radanovich, George [CA-19]) amending H.R.3540, Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1997; AMENDMENT DESCRIPTION - Amendment limits the appropriation of economic support funds to Turkey until the Turkish government acknowledges the Armenian genocide and takes steps to honor the memory of its victims; AMENDMENT PURPOSE - An amendment printed as amendment No. 67 in the Congressional Record of June 4, 1996, to limit to $22 million the amount of funds to be appropriated to Turkey under the Economic Support Fund until such time as that country acknowledges the atrocity committed against the Armenian population by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. STATUS - 6/5/1996: Amendment (A019) offered by Mr. Radanovich; 6/5/1996: On agreeing to the Radanovich amendment (A019) Agreed to by recorded vote: 268 - 153 (Roll no. 217).

101ST CONGRESS (1989-1990)

S.J.RES.212: A joint resolution designating April 24, 1990, as `National Day of Remembrance of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923'

H.J.RES.36: Designating April 24, 1989, as `National Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923'

H.J.RES.417: Designating April 24, 1990, as `National Day of Remembrance of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923'

S.586: To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to extend the program relating to certain treatment drugs, and for other purposes - "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF PROGRAM. Section 315 of the Public Health Service Act is amended in subsections (c) and (d), by striking out `March 31, 1989' and inserting in lieu thereof `September 30, 1989' each place such date occurs.`National Day of Remembrance of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923'. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That April 24, 1990, is designated as `National Day of Remembrance of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923'."

100TH CONGRESS (1987-1988)

H.RES.238: A resolution providing for the consideration of a joint resolution (H. J. Res. 132) designating April 24, 1987, as "National Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923"

H.J.RES.132: A joint resolution designating April 24, 1987, as "National Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923

S.J.RES.43: A joint resolution designating April 24, 1987 as "National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Armenian Genocide"

99TH CONGRESS (1985-1986)

H.RES.142: A resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the foreign policy of the United States should take account of the genocide of the Armenian people with the objective of preventing any future genocide anywhere in the world, and for other purposes

98TH CONGRESS (1983-1984)

H.RES.171: A resolution to affirm the Armenian Genocide

H.RES.587: A resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the foreign policy of the United States should take account of the genocide of the Armenian people with the objective of preventing any future genocide anywhere in the world, and for other purposes

S.RES.124: A resolution to affirm the Armenian genocide

S.RES.241: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the foreign policy of the United States should take account of the genocide of the Armenian people, and for other purposes

[GiovannaNicoletta]

I agree completely with you.

They are socialists to the core and will fight to the death to keep President Bush from winning this war.

Their power is at stake and they have no intention of giving up another eight years to a Republican who might stand in the way of their agenda.

[eleni121]

What’s the matter with you? None of the potential resolutions on that list have ever been passed by Congress. Most have landed in limbo in committee. This one is going to the full House ..and then the Senate...Enough of your nonsense.

Thanks Duncan Hunter for your support of this resolution!

[processing please hold]

This is latest example of the powerful and immoral Turkish Lobby that has brainwashed many here on this forum.

BUMP!!

[eleni121]

Jeff Jacoby gets it...but many here do not.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/08/21/truth_and_the_armenian_genocide/

[TigersEye]

"It is a statement made by 23 other countries. We would be the 24th country to make this statement. Genocide still exists, and we saw it in Rwanda; we see it now in Darfur," she (Pelosi) told ABC's "This Week" in an interview broadcast Sunday.

Pelosi is sending a message of hope to Rwanda and Darfur; "We (Democrats) will get around to you in 90 years with a useless resolution. The time isn't right to use you as political pawns yet. Hang in there we're on the way."