|
Though times for Turkish & US relationships |
|
On Wednesday (October 10, 2007), in a 27-21 vote, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the measure labeling the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces during World War I was "genocide."
Turkey (a NATO member and a key U.S. ally in the war on terror) accepts Armenians were killed but calls it a massacre during a chaotic time, not an organized campaign of genocide.
Turkey on Thursday recalled its ambassador to the United States and warned of repercussions in the growing dispute.
President Bush and key administration figures lobbied hard against the measure, saying it would create unnecessary headaches for U.S. relations with Turkey.
The full House could soon vote on the genocide resolution. A top Turkish official warned Thursday that consequences "won't be pleasant" if it approves the measure.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates earlier this week pointed out, "Seventy percent of the air cargo, American air cargo, going into Iraq goes through Turkey. Seventy percent of the fuel that goes in for our forces goes in ... through Turkey ...
"For those who are concerned that we get as many of these mine-resistant ambush-protected heavy vehicles into Iraq as possible, 95 percent of those vehicles today are being flown into Iraq through Turkey."
Turkey has threatened restricting U.S. access to Turkish airspace or cut off access to the air base at Incirlik, Turkey after congressional moves to declare that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in World War I was "genocide."
The initial assessment is that any cutoff from current access to Turkey would force the U.S. military into longer cargo flights, which would mean extra costs for fuel and for wear and tear on equipment. It may also look for other air hubs in Jordan or Kuwait, officials say.
The resolution arrives at a particularly sensitive point in U.S.-Turkish relations. The United States has urged Turkey not to send its troops over the border into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish separatist rebels, who launched some cross-border attacks against Turkish targets.
The Turkish military is poised to strike across the border to fight the group -- the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK -- a move opposed by the Bush administration. The Turkish parliament could give approval for the incursion into Iraq as early as next week.
Article source: CNN.com
|