Senior U.S. Officials Dispatched to Turkey
EmailABC News’ Jon Karl reports: The Bush administration is furiously attempting to calm Turkish anger over the Armenian genocide resolution that passed the House International Relations Committee last week.
Two senior U.S. officials — Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried and Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman — were dispatched from Moscow (where they were for meetings with the Russians) to Ankara to meet with Turkish officials.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters today that she talked Friday with Turkey’s president, prime minister and foreign minister.
"They were dismayed and we were dismayed" by the resolution, she said. "It’s a very difficult time for the relationship."
Rice said, "We’ll keep working" to prevent the resolution from coming to the House floor or the Senate.
CPAC: Romney Struggles to Convince Voters 
Obama Backs Off Birth Control Battle?
Does this congress have nothing better to do than to spend their time on an almost 100 year old tragedy? Let sleeping dogs lie would have been the intelligent thing to do. However, intelligence and politicians are like oil and water. Turkey is one moderate country in the middle east actually helping us. How ignorant can these politicians be, and why aren’t they working on problems existing in our century?
Posted by: Greg | October 13, 2007, 3:29 pm 3:29 pm
Greg, I almost 100% agree. One exception: I don’t think they are ignorant. I think they are exploiting a dangerous situation to advance their agenda.
Posted by: Jeff | October 13, 2007, 9:15 pm 9:15 pm
Rice is the alter ego of President Ahmadinejad. He denies the holocaust in Germany and says the “historians need to conduct more research”. Now C. Rice says about the holocaust in Armenia “I think historical circumstances require a very detailed and sober look from history”. Who’s the bad guy here ???
Posted by: kenny | October 13, 2007, 11:31 pm 11:31 pm
In the mid seventy’s, at the hight of the Cold War, US troops were deployed all across the globe and at time just a button away from Armageddon.
Turkey,a NATO member state, attacked and invaded Cyprus. The United States,chose not to look the other way and punished Turkey for its agression by slapping it with an arms embargo.
This past week members reaffirmed at part of US History, the Armenian Genocide. TWO US Presidents Roosevelt and Wilson, their Secretary of States, US Ambassadors and US missionaries all tried to intervine to save the Armenian Christians from this horrendous crime against humanity.
It was not called a genocide at that time because the tern did not yet exist. Our government refered to it as, Race Extermination and the Ottoman Empire was the perpetrator.
HR 106 does not name the Republic of Turkey of this crime but rather the Ottoman Empire.
Posted by: JEFF ANDONIAN | October 14, 2007, 12:32 am 12:32 am
And it is important for the congress to do this now because…….
Posted by: ragebot | October 14, 2007, 2:36 pm 2:36 pm
We are going to endanger thousands of Kurds and our troops to make a statement about someting that happened 100 years ago? Who is leading this congress!?
And who wrote this article … no detail, no information about sponsers of the bill … this is crap! If this passes we need to know precisely who is responsible.
Posted by: Bob, Pittsburgh,PA | October 14, 2007, 3:23 pm 3:23 pm
This is clearly an attempt by politicians to disrupt the logistics of the war in Iraq. They do not have the guts to do anything directly, but going back door is typical of politicians. If they supported our troops, they would not leave them hanging out in the area of supplies and needed equipment.
Posted by: jerry | October 14, 2007, 3:38 pm 3:38 pm
I think,that Turkey is simply bluffing.
Why,because they did the same,when France and many other countries passed the Armenian Genocide Bill.They need the US as much as US needs them!!!
And regarding the Armenian Genocide.
More than 100 top historians of the world have already signed and sent a document to Turkey in 2005,confirming,that YES,what happened back in 1915-1923 with the Armenians was nothing else,but Genocide.The Ottoman turks commited this crime,which is considered the first genocide of the 20th century,1,5 million Armenians were massacred,over 500,000 were removed from their homeland where they lived for centuries.
Now,ask yourself: was it a genocide or not?
Posted by: Hayk | October 15, 2007, 5:48 am 5:48 am
TO CENSURE…
SHAME ON ARMENIANS.THIS WRONG ACCUSATION.TURKISH PEOPLE NOT KILLER.
Posted by: BERRKAN | October 15, 2007, 8:24 am 8:24 am
The democrats promised they would defeat the US in Iraq. Looks like they’ve got a plan!
Posted by: TexBork | October 15, 2007, 1:35 pm 1:35 pm
Anyone who rejects the passage of this genocide is not right in his own mind. Regardless of your political affiliations, your ethnic heritage , your religion or even cultural background, it is only in the spirit of true consciousness and moral obligation, that everyone should and must support a crime again our fellow human beings. In the final analysis the world will side with us, cause we stood on the side of the truth. Anything shy of calling it Genocide, or covering for those who commited a crime, is a crime by itself.
Posted by: Michael Benlian | October 15, 2007, 1:48 pm 1:48 pm
Genocide is wrong. Period. It’s going on in other places around the world too. Still, it’s been a 100 years. Congress didn’t go behind Clinton’s back and destabilize his relationship with Turkey. There is some other reporting that indicates that Al Qaida is falling in Iraq. The military commanders are seeing this, but urging restraint in calling them completely finished yet. So, here’s what I believe, the democrats have run a campaign to defeat the US in Iraq. They have made that defeat one of their top priorities. 70% of our supplies into Iraq come through Turkey. This isn’t a coincedence that the democrats are going to destroy our relationship with Turkey. They have to in order to secure our defeat. The demcorats cannot afford to have a successful outcome in Iraq. There’s too much at stake for their party. That’s why after 100 years, it’s important to do this NOW, while it can only hurt the US and secure our defeat. If this scheme doesn’t work, I can’t imagine how far they will go next to defeat us, but they will settle for nothing less. Democrat voters may not agree with the US having to be defeated in Iraq, but it appears their leadership has made it a top priority. That’s why no demcorat will ever acknowledge that anything good has happened in Iraq nor will they ever talk about how to be successful in Iraq. All democrat speeches on the issues are wrapped soley in our defeat.
Posted by: TexBork | October 15, 2007, 2:07 pm 2:07 pm
I question the timing. The Weekly Standard pointed this out.
This resolution has kicked around the House for years, and was almost voted on in 2000–until President Clinton pressed Speaker Hastert to postpone a vote, out of concern for the effect on the relationship between the United States and Turkey. In a hearing before the House International Relations Committee that year, the former Turkish Ambassador warned ‘But above all, our cooperation on Iraq will inevitably suffer. The support for American policy in northern Iraq, already slim, will dwindle immediately…’ Turkish diplomats have warned for years that this issue held the potential to seriously undermine cooperation on issues such as Iraq, Iran, Cypriot reconciliation, energy security, and a range of other matters. So House leaders certainly knew this measure could badly disrupt the Iraq war effort.
Was the scheduling of this vote a specific attempt to undermine the Iraq mission? Don’t expect an answer to that question, but the vote has come up awfully suddenly.
In July for example, Congressman Adam Schiff–the sponsor of the resolution–was unsure when or if the resolution would be considered. Then, House Democratic leaders announce that they were moving the bill through committee and to the House floor with just ONE WEEK’S warning. Why the sudden move to a vote on the resolution, after delaying it for many months?
The actions in question occurred more than 90 years ago by a regime that ended during World War One; why is the House suddenly going to vote now? Given that it’s been clear for years the effect this bill will have on Turkey, and the inability of Congressional Democrats to end the Iraq war through any other means, it’s hard not to put two and two together and get four.
The Democrats are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve Defeat in Iraq. Even more bizarre, this comes on the heels of Jimmy Carter declaring that the atrocities occurring TODAY in Darfur are NOT really “genocide.”
Posted by: carl | October 15, 2007, 4:12 pm 4:12 pm