Turkish anger at 'genocide' voteTurkey has reacted angrily to a US congressional panel's resolution describing as genocide the killings of Armenians in World War I.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country had been accused of a crime it did not commit, adding the resolution would harm Turkish-US relations.
Ankara has recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations and says it is considering other responses.
The White House had urged against the vote. Armenia welcomed the outcome.
The government of Turkey, a key American ally and fellow Nato member, had lobbied hard for the US Congress not to vote on the issue.
" Turkey will not be responsible for the negative results that this event may lead to "
Turkish President Abdullah GulThe BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says Turkey must be hoping that, as with a similar resolution two years ago, the issue will not come to the floor of the House for a full vote.
In 2007, it passed the committee stage, but was shelved after pressure from the George W Bush administration.
Delegation
The resolution was narrowly approved - by 23 votes to 22 - by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
It calls on President Barack Obama to ensure that US foreign policy reflects an understanding of the "genocide" and to label the World War I killings as such in his annual statement on the issue.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... CNN March 1, 2003
Turkey rejects U.S. troop proposal
Baghdad starts destroying banned missiles
ANKARA, Turkey (CNN) --Turkey's parliament failed to pass a proposal Saturday to allow more than 60,000 U.S. troops to operate from Turkish bases and ports in the event of a war with Iraq.
The parliament adjourned after an initial vote showed 264 lawmakers favoring the measure -- three fewer than needed for passage -- 250 opposing and 19 abstaining.
After the proposal failed to gain a majority vote, Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul declared it had been "rejected." The 267 votes sought represents half of the 533 lawmakers who voted, plus one.
The parliament is to reconvene Tuesday, but the fate of the contentious measure is uncertain.
The proposal has little popular support in Turkey. Hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied Saturday in downtown Ankara. Public opinion polls show more than 90 percent of Turks oppose a U.S.-led war against Iraq.
The United States has offered $6 billion in economic aid to offset fears that war could devastate Turkey's economy. Refusal to participate could have severely limited Turkey's role during a war and in a post-war Iraq.
U.S. troop ships are waiting offshore and out of sight of the Turkish port of Iskenderun. U.S. officials have said they were confident Turkey would be the point of origin for a northern front in a war with Iraq. (Full story)
So much more ....
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_a.png?x-id=b6aa5930-a8c6-4cfb-a176-c7ef0d154eda)
3 comments:
Those of us who take Biblical prophecy seriously expect to see Turkey become more and more central to the Mohammedan world while probably becoming more alienated from the West.
Some of the commenters here may want to check out the prophecies for themselves. They are what brough me to the realization that the Bible is indeed the Word of God.
Epa I remember quite well the second article you posted. which is exactly why they should get no consideration.
when we needed them most, they bailed. its hard to make demands of a person or a nation when you failed to step up to the plate when it counted....
which is also one reason I beleive the bush admin steared northern iraq to stay semi autonomous as a kurdish homeland. turkey had no favors they could call in on that and they knew it. they shot themselves in the foot and now thiers a virtual nation state of kurds at thier back door for the first time in what,... 500 years?
This is a victory for justice. Could anybody here imagine Germany failing to apologize or even acknowledge their orchestration of the Holocaust? I'm glad that those who voted did not cave in to Turkish pressure. Let them recall their ambassador and let the "negative results" come. Sorry Raytheon, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, etc... This is clearly bad for business but it is the right thing to do. The U.S. is already virulently hated in Turkey, we have nothing to lose at this point. I say screw them, especially Mr. "The Mosques are our barracks" Erdogan. If there is any hope of truly genuine friendly relations with Turkey, the Turkish military needs to overthrow the government of that Islamist pig or its people need to vote it out.
Post a Comment