Obama & Clinton Are Genocide Deniers ?

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Turkey warns US over Armenian genocide voteBy SUZAN FRASER (AP) – 1 hour ago

 

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey warned the Obama administration on Friday of diplomatic consequences if it doesn't quash a congressional resolution that would brand the World War I-era killing of Armenians genocide.

 

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey, a key Muslim ally of the U.S., would assess what measures it would take, adding that the issue was a matter of "honor" for his country.

 

Meanwhile, a senior Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said there was an understanding with the Democratic leadership in Congress that the resolution would not go to a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives.

 

A U.S. congressional committee approved the measure Thursday. The 23-22 vote would send the measure to the full House of Representatives, if the leadership decided to bring it up. Minutes after the vote, Turkey withdrew its ambassador to the U.S.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton did not answer a question about the diplomatic fallout Friday.

 

"The Obama administration strongly opposes the resolution that was passed by only one vote by the House committee and will work very hard to make sure it does not go to the House floor," Clinton told reporters in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

 

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

 

President Barack Obama promised during his campaign to officially recognize the killings as genocide but has not done so. The Obama administration had been silent about the resolution until shortly before the vote, when it said it opposed its passage. Turkey wants stronger action to block the resolution.

 

"The picture shows that the U.S. administration did not put enough weight behind the issue," Davutoglu told reporters. "We are seriously disturbed by the result."

 

"We expect the U.S. administration to, as of now, display more effective efforts. Otherwise the picture ahead will not be a positive one," he said. He complained of a lack of "strategic vision" in Washington.

 

The measure was approved at a time when Washington is expected to press Turkey to back sanctions against Iran to be approved in the U.N. Security Council, where Turkey currently holds a seat. Turkish cooperation also is important to U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Also at stake are defense contracts. Turkey is an important market for U.S. defense companies, many of which had lobbied against the measure.

 

"We have had good cooperation with the U.S. administration at all levels," Davutoglu said. "We would expect our contributions not to be sacrificed to domestic political games."

 

Davutoglu said the U.S. ambassador had been called to the Foreign Ministry for talks. The ambassador, James Jeffrey, told reporters the Obama administration was opposed to the measure going before the full House.

 

The foreign minister said Turkey was determined to press ahead with efforts to normalize ties with Armenia, but said Turkey would not be "pressured" into taking any decisions.

 

He added that the vote had put the ratification of agreements to normalize ties with Armenia at risk.

 

Last year, Turkey and Armenia agreed to normalize ties by establishing diplomatic relations and reopen their shared border, but the agreements have yet to be approved by their parliaments.

 

Turkey has been dragging its feet, fearful of upsetting ally Azerbaijan, which balks at any suggestion of the reopening of the border until its own dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh is settled. The region in Azerbaijan has been under Armenian control.

 

Armenian groups have sought congressional affirmation of the killings as genocide for decades and welcomed Thursday's vote.

 

"The problem that America faces is how to recognize the Armenian genocide without damaging its strategic alliance with Ankara. But at some point, we must adopt moral positions," Mourad Papazian, president of the western European branch of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, told AP Television News in Paris.

 

In Ankara, dozens of members of a small left-wing party staged a protest near the heavily protected U.S. Embassy, shouting: "Genocide is an American lie!"

 

Turkey has been struggling to block similar genocide bills in parliaments across the globe.

 

Associated Press writer Desmond Butler contributed to this report from Washington.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

 

The turks bully America. Obama and Clinton don't keep their promise.

 

I wonder how much role a sworn anti-Armenian Rahm Emanuel and David Axlerod have in this.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

"Turkey warned the Obama administration on Friday of diplomatic consequences if it doesn't quash a congressional resolution that would brand the World War I-era killing of Armenians genocide."

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Meanwhile, a senior Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said there was an understanding with the Democratic leadership in Congress that the resolution would not go to a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton did not answer a question about the diplomatic fallout Friday.

 

"The Obama administration strongly opposes the resolution that was passed by only one vote by the House committee and will work very hard to make sure it does not go to the House floor," Clinton told reporters in Guatemala City, Guatemala."

 

 

 

 

 

 

"

Davutoglu told reporters. "We are seriously disturbed by the result."

 

"We expect the U.S. administration to, as of now, display more effective efforts. Otherwise the picture ahead will not be a positive one," he said. He complained of a lack of "strategic vision" in Washington. "

[Fadix2]

What's new?

[Yervant1]

It's all theatrics by the US government in order to pressure them into allignment, but they might miscalculate the arrogance of a inferiority complex leaders of Turkey. For Turks the honour is the most important thing, even if it's misguided most of the time, they will do stupid things that the mind of an American would never understand.

[Anoushik]

In a conversation yesterday I was told that Hillary Clinton has always supported the Genocide resolution as long as she's held office but I seem to remember contrary. Can anyone confirm that for me?

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Anoushik jan, et harc@ mi qani tari araj qnnarkum ein henc es xmbum.

 

 

 

http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=17449&st=40

[Aratta-Kingdom]

...the Turks also lost last week one of their own -- a major financial supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

 

The Clinton campaign said last week that it would no longer accept contributions raised by Mehmet Celebi, a prominent Turkish-American. He was listed on Sen. Clinton’s presidential campaign website as a "Hill-raiser," a designation for those who have raised more than $100,000 for her White House bid. In addition, Celebi was nominated as a Democratic Convention delegate from Illinois by the Clinton campaign.

 

Celebi is a partner in a firm, BMH Worldwide, that helped produce "Valley of the Wolves: Iraq," an anti-American and anti-Semitic Turkish film that depicts a Jewish American doctor who extracts organs from Iraqi prisoners and exports them to Israel, England and the United States.

 

Ann Lewis, senior advisor to the Clinton campaign, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: "We were unaware of Mr. Celebi’s involvement in this film and we obviously do not agree with it. He is no longer raising money for this campaign."

 

Celebi’s removal is a major blow to Turkish-Americans, since he is one of their important political leaders. He is a former Vice-President and Board Member of the American Turkish Associations of America (ATAA) and former President of the Turkish American Cultural Alliance (Chicago). Not surprisingly, Celebi has been a vocal denier of the Armenian Genocide. Just last September, he outlined his distorted views of the Armenian Genocide in an opinion column published in the Turkish Daily News.

 

Now that the Clinton campaign has decided to no longer receive contributions raised by Celebi, it must do the right thing by returning the funds raised by this controversial individual. It is not proper for the Clinton organization to keep the $100,000 Celebi had raised and then state that he is no longer associated with the campaign. If the Clinton campaign wants to truly disassociate itself from Celebi, then it should give back the money he collected for Sen. Clinton’s presidential bid. Furthermore, Sen. Clinton must cut all ties with Celebi by announcing that he is no longer a Democratic Convention delegate from the State of Illinois on behalf of the Clinton campaign.

 

While both Armenian-Americans and Turkish-Americans lost valuable supporters in the respective Obama and Clinton camps, the reasons for the departures of Samantha Power and Mehmet Celebi cannot be equated. Ms. Power misspoke, apologized and resigned from her important position with the Obama campaign. Celebi, on the other hand, has not apologized for his role in the scandalous Turkish movie on Iraq. Furthermore, the Clinton campaign has not returned the funds raised by Celebi and has not removed him from its list of delegates to the Democratic Convention.

 

By Harut Sassounian, Publisher, The California Courier

[Aratta-Kingdom]

U.S. State Department reaches understanding with Congress over Genocide resolution 06.03.2010 12:10 GMT+04:00 http://www.panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_print.gif http://www.panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_mail.gif /PanARMENIAN.Net/ U.S. Secretary of State made it clear that any further congressional action will impede the normalization process between Turkey and Armenia. “We continue to believe that the best way for Turkey and Armenia is to address their shared past through their ongoing effort to normalize relations,” Philip J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State said at the briefing, commenting the decision of the U.S. State Department Committee on Foreign Affairs to adopt the Armenian Genocide resolution 252.

 

”The Secretary has talked to Hill officials and other officials. I think they understand our position,” he said.

 

Answering the question whether the State Department officials or Administration officials were making clear to people on the Hill that they didn’t want this to proceed for the last few weeks, Philip J. Crowley particularly said,

“This is not an issue that has snuck up on anybody. This is an issue that we’ve gone through a number of times in the past. The Secretary made clear in a conversation with Chairman Berman earlier this week, but other officials have been talking to congressional staff for some time on this”. According to Philip J. Crowley, they have an understanding with congressional leaders on this issue, but Congress has a right to take action with its own body as it sees fit.

 

”We have made clear to them the risk. I think in the statements that various members made before the vote – I think they understood fully that their – the risk of this vote and the impact it was going to have in both political circles and in popular circles, particularly in these two countries, ” the Assistant Secretary of State stressed.

 

“We continue to press Turkey and Armenia to move ahead with the ratification of the protocols. We understand that this is difficult. We understand that these issues evoke very strong emotional reactions within both populations. That said, we think it is in everyone’s interest to see this process continue to move forward, and we will continue to press this case with these countries,” Philip J. Crowley concluded.

On March 4, US House Foreign Affairs Committee's passed a resolution recognizing and commemorating the Armenian Genocide. The resolution was passed by a vote of 23-22.

 

The resolution affirming the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide (H.Res.252) was formally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Adam Schiff (D.-CA), George Radanovich (R.-CA), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D.-NJ), and Mark Kirk (R.-Ill) in 2009. It currently has 137 co-sponsors.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

“We continue to press Turkey and Armenia to move ahead with the ratification of the protocols. We understand that this is difficult. We understand that these issues evoke very strong emotional reactions within both populations. That said, we think it is in everyone’s interest to see this process continue to move forward, and we will continue to press this case with these countries,” Philip J. Crowley concluded.

 

The Obama-Clinton team blackmails the turks, the Armenians, and the azeris to ratify the protocols. They do what no other U.S. president has done before. They simply want to kill the Genocide issue. Serje, Robert, Vazgen Manukyan, Vahan Hovannisyan will never be alble escape the pressures from the Obama team. October-27 parliamentary shooting, the corruption will always be an issue for them.

 

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

White House Puts Brakes on Armenia Vote

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704869304575103950047358696.html

 

 

 

The Wall Street Journal

By John D. McKinnon in Washington and

Marc Champion in istanbul

 

The White House attempted to rein in a legislative effort to condemn the 1915 killings of Armenians, an apparent salve to Turkey that threatens to compromise one of President Barack Obama's campaign promises.

 

Administration officials said Friday they have reached an "understanding" with congressional leaders on the fate of a resolution condemning the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, suggesting prospects for full House approval of the measure are dimming.

 

On Thursday, the resolution passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee by a narrow 23-22 vote. That cheered Armenians world-wide who have long lobbied for U.S. recognition, and threatened to chill U.S. relations with Turkey, a key North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally.

 

Asked what steps the administration would take to block a floor vote on the resolution, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters Friday: "I think that the leadership of the Congress understands our position and they…have taken this into account as they evaluate…if any actions will be taken."

 

Spokesmen for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn't respond to requests for comment.

 

Most Western historians say the mass deportations and executions of as many as 1.5 million Armenians in central and Eastern Anatolia were an act of genocide. Turkey denies the crumbling Ottoman regime had any such intent, citing the chaos and civil strife of World War I.

 

Recent administrations have lobbied against such resolutions. The Obama administration remained publicly silent on the vote until administration officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, began speaking out against congressional action earlier this week. Mrs. Clinton said Thursday that "we do not believe that the full Congress will or should act upon that resolution."

 

Influential Armenian-American leaders say they plan to lobby for a full House vote. They also criticized Mr. Obama for undermining a campaign promise to recognize the killings as genocide. "I don't know how the president could have sent a more negative message to Armenian-American voters," said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America.

 

The administration says the genocide question should be addressed between Turkey and Armenia, its neighbor.

 

The Aerospace Industries Association issued a statement Friday urging the full House not to act on the resolution. The association fears the controversy could dampen an expected $11 billion in defense and aerospace sales to Turkey this year.

 

Turkish officials took comfort in the closeness of the committee vote, saying it suggests Congress wouldn't risk a full House vote. Armenian-Americans have won several previous votes but never a full Congressional approval. The Bush administration blocked a 2007 floor vote in the House.

 

Still, there was no hiding the concern the vote caused in Ankara. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking at a news conference, said he would consult with President Abdullah Gül and opposition parties to formulate a common policy on what was "a matter of national honor for us," the state news agency reported.

 

Mr. Davutoglu called for the U.S. not to let the genocide issue move to the floor of the House for a vote. He also said he expected Mr. Obama not to inflame tensions on April 24, the date of an annual presidential statement on the tragedies, by describing the killings as genocide.

 

Turkey is NATO's sole Muslim member and operates the alliance's second-largest military. It hosts U.S. airbases on the border with Iraq, heads the international force in the Afghan capital Kabul and has taken a prominent unofficial role as mediator between Iran and the U.S. in their dispute over Iran's nuclear fuel program.

 

"We expect our contributions not to be sacrificed by some local political games in the United States," Mr. Davutoglu said.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

 

ARMENIAN-AMERICANS SHOULD NOT ALLOW OBAMA AND CLINTON TO BURY GENOCIDE BILL

 

 

by Harut Sassounian

 

It was bad enough

that Pres. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had failed

to keep their campaign pledge to reaffirm the facts of the Armenian

Genocide. They sunk to a new low last week, when Mrs. Clinton announced

that she and the President opposed adoption of the Armenian Genocide

resolution by the full House, following its passage by the Foreign

Affairs Committee.

 

When asked by journalists why she and the President have reversed

course on this issue, Mrs. Clinton unabashedly replied: "Well, I

think circumstances have changed in a very significant way.... We

do not believe that any action by the Congress is appropriate and

we oppose it." She added that the administration does not believe

the full House "will or should" vote on the resolution. How can the

facts of a genocide that took place 95 years ago change overnight? In

reality, nothing has changed except Secretary Clinton's moral compass,

assuming she had one to begin with!

 

It is shameful that the Obama administration is caving in to threats

from a third world country that needs the U.S. more than the U.S.

 

needs it. As Aram Hamparian, the Executive Director of the Armenian

National Committee of America said last week: "Turkey does not get a

vote or a veto in the US Congress!" Neither does the U.S. President

nor the Secretary of State, on a non-binding congressional resolution.

 

A White House spokesman announced last week that the presidents

of Turkey and United States had spoken by phone on the eve of the

Committee vote. Soon after, Mrs. Clinton warned Committee Chairman

Howard Berman that "further congressional action could impede progress

on normalization of relations" between Turkey and Armenia. Strangely,

Mrs. Clinton seems to have appointed herself as supreme arbiter of

what's in Armenia's best interest, while Armenian-Americans and

Armenia's leaders have repeatedly declared that they support the

adoption of the genocide resolution. Indeed, Mrs. Clinton has put

herself in the ridiculous position of knowing better than Armenians

what's good for them!

 

After claiming for months that the Armenia-Turkey Protocols have

no preconditions and not linked to any other issue, Mrs. Clinton

now asserts that the Protocols pave the way for a commission that is

supposed to study the facts of the Armenian Genocide. "I do not think

it is for any other country to determine how two countries resolve

matters between them," she stated. This confirms the worst fears of

Armenian opponents of the Protocols. Clearly, the Secretary believes

that ratification of the Protocols would prevent consideration of the

Armenian Genocide issue by third parties. This is precisely what the

Turkish side had been stating, to the dismay of most Armenians.

 

Interestingly, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made a

similar announcement last week, expressing his surprise that the

Armenian Genocide resolution is once again on the agenda of the U.S.

 

Congress. All along, the intent of Turkish leaders has been to stop

third parties from raising the Armenian Genocide issue, as they drag

out the Armenia-Turkey reconciliation process.

 

It was no accident that almost all Congressmen, who spoke against

the genocide resolution in the Foreign Affairs Committee, used the

lame excuse that their opposition to this bill was prompted by a

desire not to undermine the Protocols which ostensibly would bring

Armenian-Turkish reconciliation. Despite their sugar-coated rhetoric,

those who opposed the resolution and supported the Protocols were

in fact acting against Armenia's best interests on both counts. The

Protocols are now dead and buried anyway, thanks to Turkey's refusal

to ratify them, unless Armenia accepted extraneous preconditions.

 

While Armenian-American voters cannot settle their score with Pres.

 

Obama this year, since he is not on the ballot in November, 18 of

22 opponents of the resolution are! Armenian-Americans should do

everything in their power to prevent the re-election of all those

who voted against the genocide resolution on March 4: Russ Carnahan

(D-MO), Gerald Connolly (D-VA), Michael McMahon (D-NY), Mike Ross

(D-AR), Brad Miller (D-NC), David Scott (D-GA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY),

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ron Paul (R-TX), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Mike

Pence (R-IN), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Connie Mack (R-FL), Jeff Fortenberry

(R-NE), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Ted Poe (R-TX), Bob Inglis (R-SC),

and Dan Burton (R-IN). Bill Delahunt (D-MA) and John Tanner (D-TN)

are retiring from Congress. Gresham Barrett (R-SC) is running for

Governor, while John Boozman (R-AR) is a candidate for the U.S.

 

Senate. The latter two should be opposed in their new campaigns.

 

In addition, Armenian-Americans should campaign against the re-election

of Steve Cohen (D-TN), Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and Kay Granger (R-TX),

for sending a joint letter to Foreign Affairs Committee members urging

them to vote against the genocide resolution. All three are members

of the congressional Turkish Caucus.

 

The next culprits are CEO's of five major American aerospace and

defense companies: Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co., Raytheon Co.,

United Technologies Corp., and Northrop Grumman Corp. They sent a

joint letter to the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee

urging him to reject the Armenian Genocide resolution, in order not to

jeopardize their sales to Turkey. These CEO's have committed not only

an immoral act by placing a higher premium on profits -- blood money

-- over human rights, but also ignored the fact that Turkey cannot

forego its purchases from their firms, because by doing so it would

only weaken itself. Armenian-Americans should counter these firms by

staging demonstrations in front of their headquarters and factories.

 

Those employed by these firms should communicate their anger to the

CEO's of these firms. Stockholders should go to the next annual

meeting of these companies to make their concerns known and seek

removal of the CEO's. Similar protest actions should be taken against

the Aerospace Industries Association, which represents more than 270

member companies. The AIA sent a separate letter to Congress against

the Armenian Genocide resolution.

 

The Congressmen and companies who opposed the resolution on March 4

should pay a heavy price for their immoral act. Ignoring their negative

votes and letters would encourage them to oppose the resolution again,

when it reaches the House floor. If Armenian-Americans could cause

the defeat of just one of these scoundrels in November, the rest of

them will get the message that voting against genocide recognition

can cost them their political careers. They will then think twice

before casting such a vote.

 

As far as Pres. Obama and Secretary Clinton are concerned,

Armenian-Americans should not allow them to dictate to the U.S.

 

Congress. Given the fact that most Americans are disillusioned with the

failed policies and unfulfilled promises of the Obama administration,

all elected officials nationwide are seriously worried about their

re-election. This is the perfect time to demand action from politicians

and punish those who do not cooperate.

 

Armenian-Americans should contact their representatives in every

congressional district throughout the country, even in remote areas,

and tell them that unless they support the genocide resolution, they

will not get their vote in November. Politicians would rather listen

to the voices of their constituents than to Pres. Obama who is the

main cause for their seats being in jeopardy. Therefore, the fate of

the resolution is ultimately in the hands of Armenian-Americans. If

they work hard and get enough congressional supporters, Speaker Pelosi

would have no choice but to bring the resolution to the House floor,

regardless of what the administration tells her to do. Otherwise,

voters who are angry on many other issues could toss out of office

the incumbents, jeopardizing her own speakership!

 

Armenian-Americans should not forget to express their profound

gratitude to Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) and 22 other Congressmen

who voted for the resolution on March 4. They are: Gary Ackerman

(D-NY), Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Brad

Sherman (D-CA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Diane Watson (D-CA), Albio Sires

(D-NJ), Gene Green (D-TX), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA),

Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Jim Costa (D-CA), Keith

Ellison (D-MN), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Christopher Smith (R-NJ),

Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Donald Manzullo (R-IL),

and Edward Royce (R-CA), Elton Gallegly (R-CA), and Ron Klein (D-FL).

 

The Armenian community should enthusiastically support their

re-election.

 

Finally, some Turkish circles are consoling themselves simply because

the resolution was adopted by a difference of one vote. Since House

Committee members who opposed the resolution for unrelated reasons

explicitly stated that they did not dispute the facts of the Armenian

Genocide, the vote could have been 45 to 0, not 23-22, in terms of

genocide acknowledgment -- a great victory for the truth and a major

defeat for Turkish denialists and their backers. No one should be

surprised therefore, if in the coming days Turkish leaders cancel

the multi-million dollar contracts of their failed lobbying firms!

 

By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier

[Aratta-Kingdom]

TIME FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA, MSM, TO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

 

 

by Pamela Geller

 

Big Journalism

http://bigjournalism.com/pgeller/2010/03/10/time-for-president-obama-msm-to-tell-the-truth-about-the-armenian-genocide/

March 10 2010

 

Another stunning rebuke to Barack Obama: Armenian American groups

have for decades sought Congressional recognition as genocide of the

murder of just under two million Armenian Christians by the Islamic

Ottoman Empire. Last week, they cleared an important hurdle in getting

this recognition: the House Foreign Affairs Committee, over Obama's

opposition, approved a resolution calling the Turkish mass murder of

the Armenians a genocide.

 

The Islamic supremacists haven't infiltrated as deeply as they

thought. As long as Turkey was secular, we pretended it wasn't

genocide. And now Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who

once said that "there is no moderate or immoderate Islam, Islam is

Islam and that's it," is taking on the secular military in Turkey.

 

Traditionally, the secular army kept Turkey a "moderate" secular

Muslim country, but with the election of the devout Muslim Erdogan,

Turkish secularism is on the ropes. And now that Turkey is returning

to the dark side, we don't have to lie for jihadis anymore.

 

The Turks were furious over the Foreign Affairs Committee vote,

and withdrew their ambassador to the U.S. Turkish President Abdullah

Gul issued a veiled threat: "Turkey will not be responsible for the

negative results that this event may lead to."

 

Turkey threatens...what? Another genocide?

 

This should be interesting. Obviously the Muslim world thinks it

can bully the U.S. President. Let's watch and see if Obama heeds the

decent and humane call from the American people, or heeds Islam.

 

Unfortunately, the answer is already clear. The committee's vote is

difficult for the Islamophilic Obama. He campaigned on the promise that

he would officially recognize the Turkish mass murders of Armenians as

a genocide. As with so many of his other promises, Obama lied and has

backtracked since he became President, as Secretary of State Hillary

Rodham Clinton admitted Thursday: "Circumstances have changed in very

significant ways," she said. And she said that the Obama Administration

would oppose the resolution as it goes to Congress:

 

We do not believe that the full Congress will or should act upon that

resolution and we have made that clear to all the parties involved.

 

Change you can't believe in.

 

And my, isn't Turkey very thin-skinned and sensitive, considering

its propensity for genocide? The Turks should be busying themselves

apologizing and making amends, as Germany did after World War II. But

no. Instead the non-Muslim world is still stepping and fetching and

covering up for over a millennium of jihad wars, land expropriations,

enslavements, and humiliations of the conquered non-Muslim populations

on three continents -- and genocide.

 

Abdullah Gul also said:

 

We are determined to normalise Turkish-Armenian ties but we are

against this being secured through the intervention of third parties

and through pressure.

 

This is rich. How can you normalize relations when you mass murdered

close to two million of the Armenian people and won't admit it, or

express regret and apologize? It was a genocide, and the covering up

of Islamic genocides must end.

 

Let us not forget the other Christian minorities who were massacred

in the same way and for the same reason. Approximately 250,000

Assyrian-Chaldeans were massacred, as well as 250,000 Greeks.

 

Countless others were forced to convert to Islam, especially young

girls. Another thing we should remember about this period is that

Greece itself was occupied by the Ottoman empire for centuries,

as well as Bulgaria and so on, and the non-Muslim populations in all

those countries were terrorized for centuries. These nations were only

freed because of World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman empire.

 

This is a history we must not forget.

 

Above all, we must not forget that the Nazis were inspired by the

Armenian genocide.

 

The Turks used primitive gas chambers and developed other murderous

templates that were later adopted by the Nazis. Hitler was inspired

by the Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, who was an officer

of the Ottoman empire who participated in the Armenian genocide,

and who during World War II met with Hitler and frequently with

high Nazi officials. During the Nuremberg Trials in July 1946, Adolf

Eichmann's assistant, Dieter Wisliczeny, testified that Mufti was a

central figure in the planning of the genocide of the Jews:

 

The Grand Mufti has repeatedly suggested to the Nazi authorities -

including Hitler, von Ribbentrop and Himmler - the extermination

of European Jewry. ... The Mufti was one of the initiators of the

systematic extermination of European Jewry and had been a collaborator

and adviser of Eichmann and Himmler in the execution of this plan... He

was one of Eichmann's best friends and had constantly incited him to

accelerate the extermination measures.

 

Covering for Islam's acts of genocide encourages more Islamic

genocide. Think Sudan. Congress should recognize the Armenian

genocide for what it was, and call on the Turks to stop covering up

and take responsibility for what they did. Barack Obama should do

the same thing.

 

And the media should finally tell the truth.

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

 

ARMENIAN BETRAYAL

Worcester Telegram

http://www.telegram.com/article/20100310/NEWS/100319996/1020

March 10 2010

AM

 

Two years ago, then Sen. Barack Obama urged Congress to pass the

Armenian Genocide Resolution and pledged that, if elected president,

he would recognize the genocide. This week, President Obama struck

a deal with Congressional leaders not to schedule a vote on the

resolution, which recently passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

 

While we understand the geopolitical reasons behind the decision, Mr.

 

Obama's about-face on this issue breaks a campaign promise and

continues the long-standing failure on the part of U.S. presidents

to hold Turkey to a full accounting with its past crimes.

 

The excuse this time around is that Turkey and Armenia are at a

critical stage in their rapprochement, and need only a bit more time.

 

Those who oppose the House resolution say that historians should

decide how to characterize what happened to 1.5 million Armenians

killed between 1915 and the early 1920s.

 

The reality is that Turkey will never fully come to terms with its

Ottoman past, nor can it have a relationship with Armenia that is

grounded in mutual respect, so long as key allies such as the United

States continue to abet the fiction that what happened then was

anything other than a genocide.

 

Armenian immigration to the U.S. was spurred by that genocide -

and Massachusetts today counts Watertown, Belmont, Whitinsville and

Worcester as among communities with sizeable numbers of people of

Armenian ancestry. The administration owes the remaining survivors of

the Armenian Genocide, their families, and Armenian communities across

this nation clear and unflinching support for the House resolution.

 

Whatever the cost to Turkish-American relations in the short term,

those relations will be stronger in the years ahead if they are

grounded in the recognition of hard historical truths.

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

 

 

Obama and the Denial of Genocide

 

 

 

The Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-zunes/obama-and-the-denial-of-g_b_495548.html

 

 

Stephen Zunes

Professor of Politics and Chair of Mid-Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco

 

 

The Obama administration, citing its relations with Turkey, has pledged to block the passage in the full House of Representatives of a resolution passed this past Thursday by the Foreign Relations Committee acknowledging the 1915 genocide by the Ottoman Empire of a 1.5 million Armenians. Even though the Obama administration previously refused to acknowledge and even worked to suppress well-documented evidence of recent war crimes by Israel, another key Middle Eastern ally, few believed that the administration would go as far as to effectively deny genocide.

 

Following the committee vote, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that “We are against this decision,” and pledged that the administration would "work very hard" to prevent the bill from coming to the floor. Despite widespread support for the resolution by House Democrats, she expressed confidence that the administration would find a means of blocking the resolution, saying, “Now we believe that the U.S. Congress will not take any decision on this subject."

 

As candidates, both Clinton and Barack Obama had pledged that their administrations would be the first to formally recognize the Armenian genocide. Clinton acknowledged that this was a reversal, but insisted that circumstances had "changed in very significant ways." The State Department, however, has been unable to cite any new historical evidence that would counter the broad consensus that genocide had indeed taken place in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. The official excuse is that it might harm an important rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey. However, there is no indication the Armenian government is at all concerned about potential negative fallout in their bilateral relations over a resolution passed by a legislative body in a third country.

 

More likely, the concern is over not wanting to jeopardize the cooperation of Turkey, which borders Iran, in the forthcoming enhanced sanctions against the Islamic republic.

 

Back in 2007, a similar resolution acknowledging the Armenian genocide also passed through the House Foreign Relations Committee. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi promised that she would allow it to come for a vote. With 226 cosponsors — a clear majority of the House — there was little question it would pass. However, in response to claims by the Bush White House and Republican congressional leaders that it would harm the “Global War on Terror,” Pelosi broke her promise and used her power as speaker to prevent a vote on the resolution. She will also certainly buckle under pressure from an administration of her own party.

 

 

The Historical Record

Between 1915 and 1918, under orders of the leadership of the Ottoman Empire, an estimated two million Armenians were forcibly removed from their homes in a region that had been part of the Armenian nation for more than 2,500 years. Three-quarters of them died as a result of execution, starvation, and related reasons.

 

According to Henry Morgenthau, U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during that period, “When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race; they understood this well, and, in their conversations with me, they made no particular attempt to conceal the fact.” While issuing a “death warrant to a whole race” would normally be considered genocide by any definition, this apparently isn't the view of the Obama administration.

 

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, signed and ratified by the United States, officially defines genocide as any effort “to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.” The earliest proponent of such an international convention was Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jewish lawyer who originally coined the term “genocide” and identified the Armenian case as a definitive example.

 

Dozens of other governments — including Canada, France, Italy, and Russia — and several UN bodies, as well as 40 U.S. states, have formally recognized the Armenian genocide. The Obama administration does not, however, and is apparently determined to prevent Congress from doing so.

 

Congress has previously gone on record condemning Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for refusing to acknowledge the German genocide of the Jews. Congress appears unwilling, however, to challenge Obama’s refusal to acknowledge the Ottoman genocide of the Armenians. While awareness of anti-Semitism is fortunately widespread enough to marginalize those who refuse to acknowledge the Holocaust, tolerance for anti-Armenian bigotry appears strong enough that it's still considered politically acceptable to deny their genocide.

 

 

The Turkey Factor

Opponents of the measure argue that they're worried about harming relations with Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire and an important U.S. ally. However, the United States has done much greater harm in its relations with Turkey through policies far more significant than a symbolic resolution acknowledging a tragic historical period. The United States clandestinely backed an attempted military coup by right-wing Turkish officers in 2003, arming Iraqi and Iranian Kurds with close ties to Kurdish rebels in Turkey who have been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Turkish citizens. The United States also invaded neighboring Iraq. As a result, the percentage of Turks who view the United States positively declined from 52 percent to only 9 percent.

 

Generations of Turks have been taught that there was no Ottoman genocide of the Armenians, but that there were scattered atrocities on both sides. Indeed, most Turks believe their country is being unfairly scapegoated, particularly when the United States refuses to label its treatment of American Indians as genocide or acknowledge more recent war crimes. As a result, some argue that a more appropriate means of addressing the ongoing Turkish denial of historical reality would be through dialogue and some sort of re-education, avoiding the patently political device of a congressional resolution that would inevitably make Turks defensive.

 

Failure to acknowledge the genocide, however, is a tragic affront to the rapidly dwindling number of genocide survivors as well as their descendents. It's also a disservice to the many Turks who opposed the Ottoman Empire’s policies and tried to stop the genocide, as well as the growing number of Turks today who face imprisonment by their U.S.-backed regime for daring to publicly concede the crimes of their forebears. For example, Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish novelist who won the 2006 Nobel Prize for literature, was prosecuted and fled into exile to escape death threats after making a number of public references to the genocide.

 

Some opponents of the resolution argue that it is pointless for Congress to pass resolutions regarding historical events. Yet there were no such complaints regarding resolutions commemorating the Holocaust, nor are there normally complaints regarding the scores of dedicatory resolutions passed by Congress in recent years, ranging from commemorating the 65th anniversary of the death of the Polish musician and political leader Ignacy Jan Paderewski to noting the 150th anniversary of the first meeting of the Republican Party in Wisconsin.

 

The Obama administration insists that that this is a bad time to upset the Turkish government. However, it was also considered a “bad time” to pass the resolution back in 2007, on the grounds that it not jeopardize U.S. access to Turkish bases as part of efforts to support the counter-insurgency war by U.S. occupation forces in Iraq. It was also considered a “bad time” when a similar resolution was put forward in 2000 because the United States was using its bases in Turkey to patrol the “no fly zones” in northern Iraq. And it was also considered a “bad time” in 1985 and 1987, when similar resolutions were put forward because U.S. bases in Turkey were considered important listening posts for monitoring the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

 

For deniers of the Armenian genocide, it's always a “bad time.”

 

While the passage of the resolution would certainly lead to strong diplomatic protests from Turkey, it is dubious that there would be much of a rupture between Ankara and Washington. When President Ronald Reagan, a major backer of the right-wing military dictatorship then ruling Turkey, once used the term genocide in relation to Armenians, U.S.-Turkish relations did not suffer.

 

The Obama administration, like administrations before it, simply refuses to acknowledge that the Armenian genocide even took place. As recently as the 1980s, the Bulletin of the Department of State claimed that "Because the historical record of the 1915 events in Asia Minor is ambiguous, the Department of State does not endorse allegations that the Turkish government committed genocide against the Armenian people." Even more recently, Paul Wolfowitz, who served as deputy secretary of defense in President George W. Bush, stated in 2002 that “one of the things that impress me about Turkish history is the way Turkey treats its own minorities."

 

The operative clause of the resolution simply calls upon Obama “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 the consequences of the failure to realize a just resolution.” Therefore, if Obama really doesn’t want Congress to pass such a resolution, all he needs to do is make an executive order acknowledging the genocide. Despite whatever excuses one wants to make, failure to do so amounts to genocide denial.

 

 

Genocide Denial

Given the indisputable record of the Armenian genocide, many of those who refuse to recognize Turkey’s genocide of Armenians, like those who refuse to recognize Germany’s genocide of European Jews, are motivated by ignorance and bigotry. The Middle East scholar most often cited by members of Congress as influencing their understanding of the region is the notorious genocide-denier Bernard Lewis, a fellow at Washington’s Institute of Turkish Studies.

 

Not every opponent of the current resolution explicitly denies that there was genocide. Some acknowledge that genocide indeed occurred, but have apparently been convinced that it's detrimental to U.S. security to state this publicly. This is still inexcusable. Such moral cowardice is no less reprehensible than refusing to acknowledge the Holocaust if it were believed that doing so might upset the German government, which also hosts critical U.S. bases.

 

Obama is not the first Democratic president to effectively deny the Armenian genocide. President Bill Clinton successfully persuaded House Speaker Dennis Hastert to suppress a similar bill, after it passed the Republican-led Foreign Relations Committee by a vote of 40-7 and was on its way to easy passage before the full House. President Jimmy Carter also suppressed a Senate effort led by Bob Dole, whose miraculous recovery from near-fatal wounds during World War II was overseen by an Armenian-American doctor who had survived the genocide.

 

Interestingly, neoconservatives — quick to defend crimes against humanity by the Bush administration, the Israeli government, and others — are opportunistically using Obama’s flip-flop on this issue as evidence of the moral laxity of Democrats on human rights.

 

Adolf Hitler, responding to concerns about the legacy of his crimes, once asked, “Who, after all, is today speaking of the destruction of the Armenians?” Obama is sending a message to future tyrants that they can commit genocide without acknowledgement by the world’s most powerful country.

 

Indeed, refusing to recognize genocide and those responsible for it in a historical context makes it easier to deny genocide today. In 1994, the Clinton also refused to use the word “genocide” in the midst of the Rwandan government’s massacres of over half that country’s Tutsi population, a decision that contributed to the delay in deploying international peacekeeping forces until after the slaughter of 800,000 people.

 

As a result, the Obama administration’s position on the Armenian genocide isn't simply about whether to commemorate a tragedy that took place 95 years ago. It's about where we stand as a nation in facing up to the most horrible of crimes. It's about whether we are willing to stand up for the truth in the face of lies. It's about whether we see our nation as appeasing our strategic allies or upholding our longstanding principles.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Hillary Clinton had a phone conversation with Serjik, and told him to visit Washington before April-24.

 

What a move by her WOW

She couldn't find a better time to twist the arm of that Armenain made idiot. I guess now anyone can blackmail this dirty fool. I wonder how Serj is gonna save his skin when they start to talk about October-27 parliament shooting?

 

 

 

------------------------------------------------------

 

 

U.S. Department of State highly critical of Armenian authorities

 

http://news.am/en/news/16477.html

 

On March 11, the U.S. Department of State released the 2009 Human Rights Report. The part dealing with Armenia the report say that “the significantly flawed February 2008 presidential election and violent break-up of ensuing protests that resulted in 10 deaths continued to fuel a political crisis that remained largely unresolved during the year and resulted in numerous human rights abuses,” the Report says.

 

On September 16-17, approximately 16 months after its establishment, the ad hoc parliamentary commission headed by Samvel Nikoyan released its findings on the March 2008 post-election events and 10 resulting deaths. The report stated that the commission was unable to shed more light onto the circumstances of the deaths and urged law enforcement authorities to do more to identify, track down, and prosecute individuals responsible for the deaths.

 

The report blamed authorities, the opposition, and the media alike for escalating the election-related tensions that preceded the clashes. But the report assigned most of the blame for the violent unrest on the opposition, accusing presidential candidate and former president Levon Ter-Petrossian of poisoning the pre-election period by sowing “hostility and intolerance” and planting “doubts about the legitimacy of the elections” before the campaign began. It also stated that the post-election protests by Ter-Petrossian supporters destabilized the country and disrupted public order.

 

“Authorities restricted the right of citizens to freely change their government in mayoral elections in Yerevan. During the year authorities subjected citizens, particularly those considered by the government to be political opponents, to arbitrary arrest, detention, and imprisonment for their political activities; lengthy pretrial detention also continued to be a problem. Authorities continued to use harassment and intrusive application of bureaucratic measures to intimidate and retaliate against political opponents.

 

”Authorities used force to disperse political demonstrations and constrain citizens seeking to publicize them. Police beat pretrial detainees and failed to provide due process in some cases. The National Security Service (NSS) and police acted with impunity in committing alleged human rights abuses. In spite of renovations and new construction, prison conditions remained cramped and unhealthy. Authorities denied citizens the right to a fair trial.

 

“News outlets, especially in the broadcast media, practiced a high degree of self-censorship, and authorities continued to restrict media pluralism, including through a moratorium on renewal of broadcasting licenses. There were multiple attacks against journalists, and the government rarely identified or prosecuted perpetrators. Authorities restricted freedom of assembly, rejecting numerous applications filed by political opponents to hold demonstrations at requested venues, and often prevented spontaneous assembly by citizens.

 

”Corruption remained widespread, and authorities did not make determined efforts to combat it," the report says.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who presented the report, pointing out an alarming tendency worldwide.

 

T.P.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Aratta-Kingdom

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Mattew Bryza did a great job for his turkish wife and Hillary Clinton. After spending 17 hours with Nalbandyan, he got what he wanted. No one could have accomplish, what he did.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

ANCA Calls On Hillary Clinton To Lift U.S. Pressure On Armenia

Thursday, October 01, 2009

WASHINGTON, DC — Ken Hachikian, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America, Wednesday called upon Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to lift the unfair and heavy pressure the U.S. government is using to force Armenia to accept a set of highly controversial Protocols on the normalization of relations with Turkey.

 

In his letter, dated September 30, 2009, Hachikian expressed the Armenian American community’s concern that “these one-sided agreements, which are being imposed upon a landlocked Republic of Armenia that remains blockaded by Turkey and that is still working to overcome the devastating demographic, economic and geopolitical legacy of the Armenian Genocide, would, if adopted, call into question the reality of the Armenian Genocide, threaten Armenia’s security, jeopardize the freedom of Nagorno Karabagh, and compromise the inalienable rights of all Armenians.”

 

The complete text of the letter is provided below.

 

September 30, 2009

 

The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street N.W.

Washington, DC 20520

 

Dear Secretary Clinton,

 

I am writing to share with you the growing alarm and outrage among Armenian Americans over the heavy pressure that you, officials of the Department of State, and others in the Obama-Biden Administration are applying to Armenia to accept the Turkey-Armenia Protocols.

 

These one-sided agreements, which are being imposed upon a landlocked Republic of Armenia that remains blockaded by Turkey and that is still working to overcome the devastating demographic, economic and geopolitical legacy of the Armenian Genocide, would, if adopted, call into question the reality of the Armenian Genocide, threaten Armenia’s security, jeopardize the freedom of Nagorno Karabagh, and compromise the inalienable rights of all Armenians.

 

As you can imagine, in light of your powerful track record as a U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate in support of recognition of the Armenian Genocide, we are particularly troubled by the role that you have played in pressuring Armenia to accept these Protocols. Rather than keeping faith with your principled stands on this human rights issue, you have, since taking office, aggressively pressured Armenia into a process that effectively provides President Obama with a rationale –morally flawed, but nonetheless politically effective – for failing to honor his clearly stated pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

 

The starkest evidence of the intense pressure applied on Armenia is that the initial Turkey-Armenia “Roadmap” was announced late on the evening of April 22nd, only hours before the President’s first April 24th remarks, following a marathon 14-hour session in Yerevan between the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Edward Nalbandyan, and Matt Bryza, at the time a Deputy Assistant Secretary. This meeting, and all the intense pressure on Armenia in the days leading up to the President’s reversal on his Armenian Genocide pledge, was plainly intended to serve Turkey’s interest in blocking U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide. This coercion has continued through to this day, with headlines in the New York Times and elsewhere reporting your personal “prodding” and “pushing” of the Armenian government to accept the Protocols in the face of broad-based opposition both in Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora.

 

As you may know, over 10,000 Armenian Americans gathered in Los Angeles over the weekend to protest the one-sided Protocols and to demand full U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide. These American citizens and over one and a half million Armenian Americans, rightful stakeholders in our nation’s policies on Armenian issues, have been excluded from any meaningful role in the shaping of our nation’s active diplomacy on the Protocols. When we have formally protested this exclusion to senior officials of the State Department, we have been advised to address our concerns to the Armenian government. This dismissal represents a patent insult to every American of Armenian heritage. We deserve transparency and honesty from our government, a policy-making process that fairly embraces all American stakeholders, and the opportunity to offer our input in a respectful and meaningful manner.

 

In light of these concerns, I call upon you to lift the pressure being applied to Armenia to accept the Protocols and ask you, once again, to agree to accept our outstanding request to meet to discuss these and other urgent matters of concern to the Armenian American community.

 

Sincerely,

 

[signed]

Kenneth V. Hachikian

Chairman

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

We already know Obama is not gonna use the word GENOCIDE to characterize the massacres. Now it seems that he's in a mission with Hillary to kill the GENOCIDE ISSUE from the roots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clinton Invites Sarkisian To Washington on Eve of Genocide Anniversary

AsbarezOnlin

 

 

 

WASHINGTON (RFE/RL)–U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday invited President Serzh Sarkisian to visit Washington next month, in a telephone conversation that appears to have centered on the stalled rapprochement talks between Turkey and Armenia.

 

Sarkisian's office said Clinton phoned the Armenian leader to invite him to an international summit on nuclear energy security that will take place in Washington in mid-April. It said she expressed hope that the two sides will use the occasion to "continue discussing issues on the bilateral, regional and international agenda." It gave no further details.

 

The phone call came the day after Sarkisian suggested that Turkey will not unconditionally normalize relations with Armenia anytime soon and again threatened to annul the U.S.-brokered protocols signed by the two nations in October. Clinton similarly phoned Sarkisian in December just hours after he publicly voiced such a threat for the first time.

 

The invitation to Sarkisian comes months after the conference had already been scheduled without an invitation being sent to Armenia. The summit will come ahead of April 24, the international day of commemoration for the Armenian Genocide.

 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week threatened to cancel his visit to Washington for the conference, citing the House Foreign Affairs committee vote to approve the Armenian Genocide resolution on March 4. Erdogan now says he plans to attend,

 

The invitation to Sarkisian is seen by many as the administration's latest attempt to give Obama an excuse once again not to recognize the Armenian Genocide in his April 24 address.

 

Last April, Armenia and Turkey issued an announcement on the eve of April 24 committing the two to a roadmap for normalizing their strained relations. The roadmap, brokered through the mediation of the US and Switzerland, gave Obama the cover he needed to dodge using the word Genocide in his annual April 24 address, breaking a campaign pledge to affirm the US record on the crime and recognize the genocide as such.

 

This April 24 is now seen by some observers as Yerevan's new unofficial deadline for Turkish ratification of the two protocols.

 

A deputy chairman of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party on Friday rejected this and other "artificial deadlines" set by Armenian officials and reiterated that the Turkish parliament will not ratify the protocols without further progress in the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh.

 

"By April, unless there is progress on Karabakh, [the protocols] will not be passed by the Turkish parliament," Suat Kiniklioglu told an international seminar held in Yerevan by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. "The [Turkish-Armenian] border has been closed for 17 years. I think we can wait for another year, if that is going to lead to a solution to the problem."

 

Kiniklioglu also said Ankara does not insist on a comprehensive resolution of the Karabakh dispute. "We are not talking about the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the seven [Azerbaijani] regions or anything else," he said. "We are talking about a roadmap that puts a clear timeline with international guarantees of how the process should work."

 

Both the Sarkisian and Obama administrations have repeatedly rejected any linkage between Turkish-Armenian relations and Karabakh peace.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Aratta-Kingdom

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

LES ARMENIENS AMERICAINS NE DOIVENT PAS PERMETTRE A OBAMA ET CLINTON D'ENTERRER LE PROJET DE RESOLUTION SUR LE GENOCIDE

 

 

Par Harut Sassounian

 

Armenews.com

Lundi 15 Mars 2010

 

Il etait assez regrettable que le President Obama et la Secretaire

d'Etat Hillary Clinton n'aient pas tenu leur promesse de campagne

de reaffirmer les faits du Genocide Armenien. Ils sont tombes encore

plus bas la semaine passee, quand Mme Clinton a annonce qu'elle meme

et le president s'opposaient a l'adoption de la resolution sur le

Genocide Armenien par la Chambre dans son ensemble a la suite du feu

vert donne par la Commission des Affaires Etrangères.

 

Quand il lui a ete demande par les journalistes pour quelle raison

elle-meme et le President avaient fait machine arrière sur cette

question, Mme Clinton, nullement decontenancee, a repondu :

"Bien, je pense que les circonstances ont change de facon très

significative...Nous ne croyons pas qu'un acte du Congrès soit

approprie et nous nous y opposons." Elle a ajoute que l'administration

ne croit pas que la Chambre dans son ensemble, 'ne veut ni ne doit'

voter la resolution. Comment des faits d'un genocide qui s'est passe

il y a 95 ans peuvent-ils changer tout d'un coup ? En realite, rien

n'a change excepte la boussole morale de la Secretaire Clinton en

supposant ^pour commencer qu'elle en ait une.

 

Il est honteux que l'administration Obama cède aux pressions d'un pays

du tiers monde qui a plus besoin des USA que les USA n'en ont besoin.

 

Comme l'a dit Aram Hamparian, Directeur Executif du Comite National

Armenien d'Amerique, la semaine passee " la Turquie n'a pas un

droit de vote ou de veto au Congrès des USA !" pas plus, sur une

resolution declarative du Congrès, que le president des USA ou la

secretaire d'Etat.

 

Un porte- parole de la Maison Blanche a annonce la semaine passee que

les presidents des USA et de Turquie s'etaient parle au telephone a la

veille du vote de la Commission. Peu après, Mme Clinton a averti le

President de la Commission Howard Berman qu' "un acte plus avance du

Congrès pourrait gener le processus de normalisation des relations"

entre la Turquie et l'Armenie. Chose etrange, Mme Clinton semble

s'etre donnee a elle-meme le rôle d'arbitre supreme de ce qu'il y a

de meilleur pour les interets de l'Armenie, alors que les dirigeants

des Armeniens americains et ceux d'Armenie ont constamment declare

qu'ils soutenaient l'adoption de la resolution sur le Genocide. Il n'y

a plus de doute, Mme Clinton s'est placee elle-meme dans la position

ridicule de savoir mieux que les Armeniens ce qui est bon pour eux !

 

Après avoir affirme pendant des mois que les protocoles entre l'Armenie

et la Turquie n'etaient soumis a aucune condition prealable ni lies

a aucune autre question, Mme Clinton affirme que les Protocoles

preparent la voie a une commission supposee etudier les faits du

Genocide Armenien. "Je ne pense pas qu'il revient a aucun autre pays

de determiner la facon dont deux pays doivent resoudre les litiges

entre eux," a-t-elle declare. Cela confirme les pires craintes des

opposants armeniens aux Protocoles. En clair, la Secretaire croit que

la ratification des Protocoles devrait empecher d'examiner la question

du Genocide par des tiers. C'est ce que la partie turque a declare,

a la consternation de la plupart des Armeniens.

 

Il est interessant de noter que le ministre turc des affaires Ahmet

Davutoglu a fait une declaration la semaine passee, exprimant sa

surprise sa surprise que la resolution sur le Genocide Armenien soit

encore dans l'agenda du Congrès des USA. Depuis le debut, l'intention

des dirigeants turcs a ete d'arreter les tiers de soulever la question

du Genocide Armenien, tout en traînant les pieds dans le processus

de reconciliation.

 

Ce n'est pas par hasard que presque tous les Membres du Congrès qui se

sont exprimes contre la resolution sur le Genocide a la Commission des

Affaires Etrangères, ont invoque l'excuse bancale selon laquelle leur

opposition a ce projet etait motivee par une volonte de ne pas nuire

aux Protocoles senses conduire a la reconciliation entre la Turquie et

l'Armenie. Malgre leur rhetorique saupoudree de sucre, ceux qui se sont

opposes a la resolution et soutenu les Protocoles agissaient en fait

et quoi qu'il en soit contre les interets de l'Armenie. Les Protocoles

sont a present morts et enterres, grâce au refus de la Turquie de les

ratifier, a moins que l'Armenie accepte ses prealables hors de propos.

 

Alors que les electeurs Armeniens Americains ne peuvent solder leur

compte avec le president Obama cette annee dans la mesure où il

n'est pas candidat au scrutin de novembre, 18 des 22 opposants a la

resolution le sont ! Les Armeniens Americains devraient faire tout ce

qui est en leur pouvoir pour empecher la reelection de tous ceux qui

ont vote contre la resolution sur le Genocide le 4 mars : Russ Carnahan

(D-MO), Gerald Conolly (D-VA), Michael McMahon (D-NY), Mike Ross

(D-AR), Brad Miller (D-NC), David Scott (D-GA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY),

Ileana Ross-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ron Paul (R-TX), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Mike

Pence (R-IN) Joe Wilson (R-SC), Connie Mack (R-FL), Jeff Fortenberry

(R-NE), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Ted Poe (R-TX), Bob Inglis (R-SC),

and Dan Burton (R-IN). Bill Delahunt (D-MA) et John Tanner (D-TN)

se retirent du Congrès. Gresham Barrett (R-SC) est candidat comme

gouverneur, et John Boozman (R-AR) est candidat pour le Senat des USA.

 

De meme, les Armeniens Americains devraient faire campagne contre la

reelection de Steve Cohen (D-TN) Ed Whitfield (R-KY) et Kay Granger

(R-TX) pour avoir adresse une lettre cosignee aux membres de la

Commission des Affaires Etrangères les pressant de voter contre

la resolution sur le Genocide. Les trois sont membres du groupe

parlementaire Turquie.

 

Les autres coupables sont les directeurs generaux de cinq compagnies

d'industries aerospatiales et de defense, Lockheed Martin Corp.,

Boeing Co., Raytheon Co., United Technologies Corp., et Northrop

Grumman Corp. Ils ont adresse une lettre cosignee au President de

la Commission des Affaires Etrangères de la Chambre, le pressant de

rejeter la resolution sur le Genocide Armenien, dans le but de ne

pas compromettre leurs ventes en Turquie. Ces directeurs generaux

n'ont pas seulement commis un acte immoral, faisant passer leurs

profits - argent verse pour un meurtre commis - avant les droits

de l'homme, mais ils ignorent aussi que la Turquie ne peut pas

renoncer a ses achats a leurs firmes, dans la mesure où ce faisant,

elle s'affaiblirait. Les Armeniens Americains devraient protester

contre ces firmes en organisant des manifestations devant leur siège

et leurs usines. Ceux employes dans ces firmes devraient manifester

leur colère auprès des directeurs generaux de ces firmes.

 

Les actionnaires devraient se rendre a la prochaine assemblee generale

de ces compagnies pour exprimer leurs preoccupations et demander

la revocation de ces directeurs executifs. Les memes protestations

devraient etre organisees devant l'Association des Industries

Aerospatiales, qui regroupe près de 270 compagnies membres. L'AIA a

envoye une lettre individuelle au Congrès contre la resolution sur

le Genocide Armenien.

 

Les membres du Congrès et les compagnies qui se sont opposes a

la resolution du 4 mars doivent payer le prix fort pour leur acte

immoral. Ignorer leur vote negatif et leur lettre les encouragerait

a s'opposer a la resolution encore une fois, lorsqu'elle arrivera

sur le bureau de la Chambre. Si les Armeniens Americains pouvaient

provoquer la defaite d'une seule de ces fripouilles en novembre,

le reste d'entre eux auront recu le message que le vote contre la

resolution sur la reconnaissance du Genocide peut leur coûter leur

carrière politique. Ils reflechiront par la suite deux fois avant de

faire un tel vote.

 

Pour ce qui concerne le president Obama et la Secretaire Clinton,

les Armeniens Americains ne doivent pas accepter qu'ils dictent

son attitude au Congrès des USA. Etant donne que la plupart des

Americains ont perdu leurs illusions avec les echecs politiques

et les promesses non tenues de l'administration Obama, tous les

officiels elus de l'ensemble de la nation ont des craintes serieuses

sur leur reelection. C'est le meilleur moment pour demander d'agir

aux politiques et pour punir ceux qui ne coopèrent pas.

 

Les politiques ecouteront plutôt les voix de leurs electeurs plutôt

que le president Obama qui est la cause principale des menaces sur

leur siège. Mais finalement, le sort des resolutions est entre les

mains des Armeniens Americains.

 

S'ils travaillent dur et obtiennent suffisamment de supporters au

Congrès, la Presidente Pelosi n'aura d'autre choix que de porter

la resolution sur le bureau de la Chambre, en depit de ce que

l'administration lui demande de faire. Autrement, les votants qui sont

en colère sur beaucoup d'autres sujets pourraient ejecter leur elu,

mettant en peril sa propre presidence !

 

Les Armeniens Americains ne devraient pas oublier d'exprimer leur

profonde gratitude au president Howard Berman (D-CA) et aux 22 autres

membres du Congrès qui ont vote pour la resolution du 4 mars. Ce sont

: Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), Donald

Payne (D-NJ), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Diane Watson

(D-CA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Gene Green (D-TX), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA),

Barbara Lee (D-CA), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Joseph Crowley (D-NY),

Jim Costa (D-CA), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ),

Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Dana Rohrabacher

(R-CA), Donald Manzullo (R-IL), and Edward Royce (R-CA), Elton Gallegly

(R-CA), and Ron Klein (D-FL). La communaute armenienne devrait soutenir

leur reelection avec enthousiasme.

 

Finalement, quelques cercles turcs se consolent simplement parce

que la resolution a ete adoptee par une difference d'une seule

voix. Dans la mesure où les membres de la Commission de la Chambre

qui se sont opposes a la resolution pour des rasons non indiquees

ont tous explicitement declare qu'ils ne contestaient pas les faits

du Genocide Armenien, le vote aurait pu etre de 45 contre 0, et non

23-22, en termes de reconnaissance du genocide, une grande victoire

pour la verite et une defaite majeure pour les negationnistes turcs

et leurs allies. Personne ne sera surpris, par consequent, si dans

les jours prochains, les dirigeants turcs annulent leurs contrats

avec leurs groupes de pression defaillants passes a coups de millions !

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Armenia Denies Clinton Remarks on ‘History Commission’ Creation

 

AsbarezOnline

 

 

YEREVAN—Armenia’s foreign ministry Tuesday countered earlier statements by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said that the process to create a historic commission, as envisioned by the Armenia-Turkey protocols, has already begun.

 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tigran Balayan said that the creation of a historic commission cannot happen without the ratification of the protocols by the parliaments of Turkey and Armenia.

 

During an interview in Moscow with Vladimir Pozner and in response to a question on whether President Obama has abandoned his campaign promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide, Clinton said: “I don’t think anyone has forgotten, but what has happened that is of great import is the work going on between Turkey and Armenia. In fact, I was in Zurich last fall with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Armenia, Russia, France, other countries to witness the signing of a set of protocols to normalize relationships between Armenia and Turkey. And in those protocols, there was an agreement between the two countries to establish a historical commission that would look at all of the issues that are part of the past.”

 

“And I think that’s the right way to go, I think, to have the two countries and the two peoples focusing on this themselves. I have said many times we cannot change the past we inherit. All we can do is try to have a better future,” added Clinton.

 

When asked whether the commission exists, Clinton said: “They’re working to create it,” and reaffirmed the creation upon further inquiry.

 

“Not until the protocols are ratified will steps envisioning normalization of relations and opening of the Armenia-Turkey border be taken,” Balayan, the spokesman for Armenia’s foreign ministry, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Armenia service.

 

Balayan added that the Armenian Genocide issue was not a matter of discussion.

 

“As has been said on numerous occasions by the country’s president and foreign minister, the veracity of the Genocide is not a topic of discussion. Armenia hasn’t discussed it, nor will discuss the veracity of the Genocide,” added Balayan.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Obama's Tough Choice

 

The Huffington Post

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andranik-migranyan/obamas-tough-choice_b_548180.html

 

 

On April 24 every year the U.S. President addresses the American people and the world to express solidarity with those who pay tribute to the 1915 genocide victims when 1.5 million Armenians were destroyed in the Ottoman Empire.

 

Every presidential candidate promises to the U.S. Armenian community that when he comes to office he will recognize the fact of the genocide but neither President Clinton, nor Bush, nor President Obama have fulfilled their election pledges yet. The last President to keep his word on this was President Reagan who explicitly recognized Armenian Genocide in 1981.

 

Last year, when on a trip to Ankara in April, President Obama, answering the question on Armenian-Turkish relations, did not use the word 'genocide' but said that his views on the issue had not changed since his election campaign. Then, he said "America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide," and more. To avoid using the word genocide in the U.S.

 

President's address on April 24, 2009 the U.S. administration had asked the President of Armenia to publicly announce on the eve of that date that some progress had been made in the negotiations with Turkey, and two protocols had been initialed that were aimed at normalizing the Armenian-Turkish relations.

 

The Armenian leadership agreed to do that despite the anticipation of serious criticism on the part of the Diaspora and especially the Armenian community in the United States who thought that this played into the hands of the Turks and helped Obama to save face and not to use the word 'genocide' in his speech on April 24, the reason being that he did not want to impede the normalization process in the relations between Armenia and Turkey. Instead, he used an Armenian language term for the genocide. After announcing the news regarding the protocols right before the genocide memorial date, the Armenian leadership received a statement from the U.S. Department of State to the effect that the parties should sign the protocols without any preconditions and within a reasonable time frame. By virtue of this action Washington, to a large extent, assumed the responsibility of being the guarantor of signing and ratification of these protocols. This was followed by the signing of the protocols in Zurich by the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia, with the active mediation of U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton.

 

The Turkish side, however, kept putting forward new conditions for the ratification, thus protracting the process and using the negotiations with Armenia to block the passing of the resolution by U.S. Congress denouncing the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and recognition of the genocide by other states.

 

Such conduct on the part of the Turkish side left Armenia no choice under the circumstances but suspend further proceedings of the protocols placing the full responsibility for frustrating the talks on Turkey. Armenia formally did so today. It is now up to Turkey to settle things with the United States, France, European Union and Russia regarding the issue since the foreign ministers of France, the U.S. and Russia, as well as the representative of the EU took part in the protocol signing process in Zurich.

 

In order to maintain the negotiations process, the President of Armenia was invited to participate in the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC on April 12-13, and within the framework of the Summit he had meetings with the Prime Minister of Turkey, President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton.

 

The Turkish side made the ratification of the protocols contingent on the progress in the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and on the upcoming parliamentary elections in Turkey, which is not due until 2011. Such conduct on the part of Turkey runs contrary to the very essence of the protocols and the statement of the U.S. Department of State on normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations without any preconditions and within a reasonable time frame.

 

Washington was not able to convince Ankara to comply with its obligations to ratify the protocols. It is just as unlikely to be able to keep Armenia in this negotiations process so as to have a chance for President Obama to save face this year again, in case on April 24 he does not use the word 'genocide' in his address.

 

The Armenian side could stay in the negotiations for a while longer even without the ratification of the protocols by the Turkish Parliament if the President of the United States used the word 'genocide' in his address on April 24. In that case neither the Diaspora nor the Armenian political circles in the opposition would be able to accuse the President of Armenia of his staying in the process, in fact, assisting the Turkish diplomacy and blocking the process of recognizing the genocide by the U.S. administration and Congress.

 

The Armenian side could stay in the negotiations process given the certainty that this year the Congress would pass a resolution on the genocide of Armenians which has already gone through the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives. It might stay in this process if there is any progress in the position of the mediators on the Nagorny Karabakh settlement issue and clarification of the issue of its status. Without some positive results on a wide range of issues in the Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azeri relations, it will be difficult for the Armenian leadership to remain in this process without causing itself political damage.

 

In my view, as a result of the Armenian withdrawal from the process it is Turkey who will be the biggest loser, because yet again the Turkish side will show the world that it is not ready to recognize the genocide and apologize to the Armenian people; furthermore, it is not even ready to agree to a normalization of relations, thus presenting itself as a dangerous neighbor for Armenia and unreliable partner for all the countries that participated in the drafting and signing of the protocols.

 

Obviously, not only Obama but also the United States will sustain serious blows to their reputation since Washington acted as an unbiased mediator and, even more, gave the world reasons to believe that he had sufficient resources to convince Turkey to sign as well as ratify the protocols.

 

On April 24 the U.S. President is to deliver another address with regard to the 95th anniversary of the genocide of Armenians. He would do well if he came up with some language not to alienate the U.S. Armenian community and the Armenian people either from him personally or from his party on the eve of midterm elections to Congress, and here he should take into account certain capabilities of the Armenian lobby and the Armenian constituency.

 

Thus, the U.S. President is facing a difficult choice. If he recognized the genocide he would avoid challenges to his credibility, and gain the support of the Armenian-American community; he would also perform a moral duty as President Reagan did and which, incidentally, has already been done by such states as France, Germany, Russia and others. At the same time, that would create tensions in the relations with Turkey which is a NATO ally and a strategic partner. Indeed, Turkey is still viewed as such mechanically by many in Washington. However, only those totally divorced from politics cannot see that Turkey's recent policy on all major internal and external issues has been shifting. Turkey has been moving from a secular state toward an Islamic state. Moreover, it is pursuing the ambitions to re-instate its role as a leader of a neo-Ottoman world and as the leader of all Islamic states. Internally, the Army and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are rapidly losing their influence as the main guarantors of Turkey as a secular state. In the external policy, Erdogan has repeatedly subjected Israel to verbal accusations and made statements on protecting Iran from tougher U.S. sanctions in the UN Security Council. If this rapid slide of the Turkish policy continues in the future, then we may not find too unrealistic the strategic forecast of George Friedman, founder of STRATFOR, in his book "The Next 100 Years", on the inevitability of a full-scale war between the neo-Ottoman Turkey and the United States as early as the middle of this century.

 

In view of all these circumstances, the U.S. President will be presented with a tough choice that is really not too difficult.

 

 

 

[Arpa]

Imaagine if you can that as per Ms. Hillary's invitaion Mr. Sargisian would be in Washington today.

Some cynical people have the nerve!

I can’t find the actual news item whereby Ms. Hillary had invited Mr. Sargisian to a meeting in Washington on APRIL 23 purportedly to discuss the “proctocols“. Gladly Mr. Sargisian declined the “invitaion”, call it “summons” He showed the size of his gonads, saying that on those days he would be busy with the commemoration of the Genocide, visiting the Memorial at Tsitsernakaberd and laying wreaths of flower at the tomb of the murdered 1.5 million Armenians.

I would have loved to know the program schedule, like holding a cocktail party on the Evening of the 23d, reciting toasts to the “Armeno-furkish friendship”, wishing long life to ergagan and gul. And, on the 24th have state dinner with kokma, kakma and kakstrma on the main menu, with furkish delight as dessert.

SOME PEOPLE HAVE THE NERVE!!! To take us for fools and idiots. Maybe we are FOOLS and IDIOTS, but even that has its limits. Who is the fool and idiot? The inviter or the invitee?

Yes, Ms. Hillary. How many “tough nuts” have you seen? Mr. Bill does not count.

Yes, Ms. Clinton snap your fingers, you say “jump” and we the “fools” will ask “how high”???

Speaking of “courtesans”** and court jesters!!!

**Please look up to see what this word means.

Main Entry: cour·te·san 

Pronunciation: \ˈkȯr-tə-zən, -ˌzan also ˈkər-, -ˌzän; especially British ˌkȯr-tə-ˈzan\

Etymology: Middle French courtisane, from northern Italian dial. form of Italian cortigiana woman courtier, feminine of cortigiano courtier, from corte court, from Latin cohort-, cohors

a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Clinton's Visit to Genocide Monument Necessary but Not Sufficient

 

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

 

During her visit to Armenia on July 5, U.S. Secretary State

HillaryClinton placed a wreath at the ArmenianGenocide Monumentat

Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan.Regrettably, however, the U.S. Embassy in

Armenia issued a press releasedescribing the visit as "private." By

using such a characterization, U.S.officials were trying to preempt

any backlash from the Turkish government.

In my opinion, theState Department mishandled Secretary Clinton's

visit to the Armenian Genocide Monument. Here are thereasons why:

There was no need to downplaythe visit by characterizing it as

"private," since such visits arestandard procedure for foreign

dignitaries visiting Armenia.

Paying a visit to the Genocide Monumentdoes not necessarily imply

recognition of the Armenian Genocide, as allprevious and current

U.S.Ambassadors have visited this site every April 24.

Secretary Clinton's visit tothe Genocide Monumentcould not have been

described as "private," since it was a part ofher "official" visit to

Armenia.

The characterization of thevisit as "private" was contradicted by the

fact that the ribbons onthe wreath she laid at the Genocide Monument

carried theinscription: "From Secretary of State Hillary Rodham

Clinton."

Clinton's visit the daybefore to the "Alley of the Martyrs" in Baku

was not described as"private," creating the disturbing impression that

U.S. interests inAzerbaijan's oil weigh heavier than its humanitarian

concerns for victims ofgenocide.

Another double standard was Clinton not allowing any Armenian

government officials toaccompany her to the Genocide Monument in

Yerevan,while she was accompanied to the "Alley of Martyrs" in Baku by

a Deputy Minister of Azerbaijan!

Clinton permitted neither the international press travelingwith her

nor the local Armenian media, except Armenian Public TV, to report

onher visit to the Genocide Monument. Her actionundermines her

advocacy for media freedom.

There was no reason forSecretary Clinton to be coy about Genocide

recognition, since Pres. Reagan hadacknowledged it in 1981, and the

U.S. House of Representatives had recognizedit in 1975 and 1984.

Even though the StateDepartment downgraded Secretary Clinton's visit

to the Monument, Armenianofficials did their best to publicize it as

much as possible! This time theyacted more decisively than last May,

when Mevlut Cavusoglu -- Turkish Presidentof Council of Europe's

Parliamentary Assembly -- refused to visit the Genocide Monument. They

insisted that theSecretary add to her itinerary a stop at the Genocide

Monument.They then arranged for Armenian Public TV and other TV

stations to repeatedlyair the video of Clinton'sJuly 5 visit to the

Monument.

In addition, the website ofthe State-owned ArmenianGenocide

Museumprominently featured Clinton'svisit by displaying photos of her

wreath with ribbons that carried a visibleinscription of her name and

title, and an authentic medal issued by theAmerican Near East Relief

Committee that Museum Director Hayk Demoyan presentedher. Pointing

across the Turkish border, Demoyan told Secretary Clinton thatMount

Ararat is "a symbol of Armenia." In addition toexplaining the basic

facts of the Armenian Genocide, Demoyan told her that thegraves of

heroes fallen in Artsakh (Karabagh) were located near the

Monument,since Armenians consider that war to be a continuation of the

ArmenianGenocide. The Secretary was also given a historical photo in

which Armenianchildren in the American orphanage of Alexandropol

(Gumri) were standing information that spelled out the words:

"AMERICA, WE THANK YOU."

Clinton's visit was both praised and criticized by

Armenian-Americanorganizations. The Armenian National Committee of

America took Clintonto task for her "secret" visit to the Genocide

Monument,while the Armenian Assembly of America commended her for the

visit. Former U.S.Ambassador to Armenia, JohnEvans, told The

California Courier that "Clinton's visit was a small, but positivestep

forward." The last Secretary of State to have visited Armenia was

James Baker in 1992, who did not,however, make a stop at the Genocide

Monument.

In my view, Secretary Clintonshould be commended for making such a

positive gesture, but also blamed forgoing to such lengths to downplay

her visit to the Genocide Monument.Why was she so concerned about

offending Turks who have brazenly underminedevery major U.S.foreign

policy initiative in recent months?

Unfortunately, SecretaryClinton, Vice President Biden and Pres. Obama

have drifted far away from theircampaign promises to recognize the

Armenian Genocide! Clinton'sbrief stop at the Genocide Monument on

July 5 is awelcome first step that fell short of her solemn commitment

to supportrecognition of the Armenian Genocide.

[Yervant1]

Here we go again, "The Armenian Genocide" is being used as a trump card in order to tame Turkey and not because it's a Genocide. Shame on you all shameless politicians.

US PLAYS 'GENOCIDE' CARD TO PRESSURE TURKEY ON NATO MISSILE SYSTEM

 

Hurriyet

Oct 21 2010

Turkey

 

A congressional panel has already adopted a resolution calling on

Obama to recognize the Armenian 'genocide.' AP photo

 

With already-troubled Turkey-U.S. ties further challenged by NATO

plans for a missile defense system, Washington is now attempting to

use one of the touchiest issues in the two countries' relationship

to gain Turkish cooperation.

 

Frustrated by the growing divergence of views, the United States

has warned Turkey that it will not be able to block the adoption by

the U.S. Congress of a resolution based on Armenian genocide claims,

the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review has learned.

 

In official talks with Turkish authorities, U.S. officials said

Ankara's policies on Iran, tensions with Israel and position on the

anti-missile system would determine the course of Turkish-American

relations and be a test case for how Turkey wants to position itself

going forward. Unless there is some improvement in these three areas,

Washington made clear through diplomatic channels, Turkey should

not be surprised to see a resolution recognizing Armenian claims of

genocide pass before the end of the year.

 

More on missile defense US presses Turkey on Iran sanctions, dismisses

claims of trade embargo

 

"The perception that Turkey and the U.S. work for opposing aims makes

it difficult for us to work together," Philip Gordon from the U.S.

 

State Department said at an American Turkish Council meeting Tuesday in

Washington. "Whether the rhetoric that Turkey is heading East is right

or wrong, as long as some think like that, we will have problems."

 

If Turkey blocks NATO's missile-defense plans, it will lose credibility

within the alliance and strengthen views that Turkey is drifting apart

from the West, said Serdar Erdurmaz, a former army official now with

the Turkish Center for International Relations and Strategic Analysis,

or TURKSAM.

 

"At the end of the day, the decision to say yes or no to NATO will be a

test for Turkish foreign policy identity and the concept of belonging,"

journalist Sami Kohen wrote in his column in daily Milliyet on Tuesday.

 

Kohen believes the skepticism about Turkey stems from its recent

opening to the Middle East and its strong ties with Iran. "It is

important that Turkey is careful to avoid road accidents about these

initiatives. But if NATO and its Western allies carry importance for

Turkey, then it should avoid confrontations that will irritate them,"

he wrote in the same column.

 

The anti-missile system is only the latest headache in Turkish-U.S.

 

relations, which ebbed after Ankara's refusal to allow U.S. troops

to cross its territory to invade Iraq in 2003 and have been hard to

get back on track since.

 

New U.S. plans to have NATO endorse an anti-missile system and to

deploy certain elements of the new mechanism in Turkey have met

objections from the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP,

government, further deteriorating the already-negative atmosphere

between the two countries.

 

Washington portrays the missile-defense system as a safeguard against

a possible ballistic missile strike from Iran, but Ankara is concerned

that hosting the shield could damage relations with its neighbor.

 

Turkey has said it does not want the system to specifically identify

any neighboring country.

 

The missile-defense issue is not the first time the two allies have

disagreed over Iran; relations became increasingly tense in June

following Turkey's dissenting vote in the U.N. Security Council against

fresh sanctions on the Islamic republic. The United States has also

expressed concern about the unraveling ties between Turkey and Israel

- both key U.S. allies in the region - in the wake of Israel's 2008

invasion of Gaza and its deadly raid May 31 on a Turkish aid ship

seeking to run the blockade on the isolated strip.

 

These developments have deepened concerns that Turkish policy is

tilting outside the West's sphere of influence, and according to

Gordon, prompted the asking in the U.S. Congress of more and more

questions about Turkey.

 

Congressional committees have previously approved resolutions calling

on the president to recognize Armenian claims that up to 1.5 million

of their kin perished in orchestrated killings and deportations under

the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1917.

 

Turkey counters that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as

many Turks perished in what was a civil strife when Armenians rose up

against their Ottoman rulers and sided with Russian forces invading

the crumbling empire.

[Ani]

 

 

 

http://hnazarian.blogspot.com/2010/10/biden-armenian-president-called-me-and.html

[Aratta-Kingdom]

DEMONSTRATION DEMANDING OBAMA TO KEEP HIS PROMISE

 

 

AsbarezOnline

 

 

On Thursday, April 21 at 3 p.m., all Armenian-Americans in Southern California are urged to join in a public protest to be held outside a fundraising event for President Obama at the Sony Studios located at 10202 W. Washington Boulevard in Culver City, California.

 

President Obama will be visiting the Los Angeles area as part of his re-election campaign just three days prior to April 24th. He must hear our community's profound disappointment with his failure to honor his campaign promise that as President, he would recognize the Armenian Genocide and deliver justice to the Armenian people. Being the largest Armenian community in the Diaspora, we must turn out en masse to send our message loud and clear not only to him, but to all of the national press that will be assembled there.

 

We strongly urge all Armenians to join us in making our voices heard.

 

Buses will transport protestors starting at 1:30 p.m. from St. Mary's Church in Glendale. Rose and Alex Pilibos School in Hollywood, Ferrahian High School in Encino and the North Hollywood Armenian Apolstolic Church 13050 Vanowen St. North Hollywood.