-Caveat Lector-
: Haaretz
: Sept 28, 2000
: Turks and Armenians corner Jews in debate over genocide
: By Nitzan Horowitz
: Washington - Turkish newspapers seemed to be filled in recent days
: with articles smearing the United States. "A knife in the back," "An
: ugly plot," "Betrayal" scream the headlines in Ankara. Turkish fury
: is
: aimed at a legislative initiative of the Armenian lobby in
: Washington.
: The law, if passed, is only symbolic, but is a symbol of great
: significance, especially in the bitter dispute between the Armenians
: and the Turks.
: The bill was endorsed a week ago by a subcommittee of the House
: of Representatives, and is expected to be debated in the committee
: plenum. The law calls upon the president to "define as genocide the
: systematic and intentional murder of a million-and-a-half Armenians,"
: and asks the State Department to pass on this material to American
: diplomats. The Armenians are of course seeking to obtain American
: recognition for the genocide committed by Ottoman Turkey in 1915.
: The Armenian initiative did not make waves in the American media,
: and has little chance of passing the coming stages of legislation.
: The
: State Department even published a condemnation of the decision in
: the House of Representatives. "Historians, not lawmakers, are the
: ones who should be concerned with this matter," explained the State
: Department spokesman. "We are prepared to assist the efforts of the
: Turkish and Armenian experts, together with academics from other
: countries, to study their joint history."
: The State Department, by the way, has clear instructions not to use
: the expression "Armenian genocide." In the recent announcements
: concerning the congressional initiative, the spokesman was careful to
: use the word with quotation marks, gesturing with his fingers to
: signify this, but also saw fit to add that the "slaughter of the
: Armenians in 1915," is already mentioned in two courses for American
: diplomats.
: The administration has warned the lawmakers that if the Armenian
: proposal passes, it could undermine the entire Caucasus and harm
: American relations with Turkey, "our strategic partner in the
: region,"
: according to the official designation.
: There is nothing vague about Turkey's position on the matter. It has
: threatened to close down its Incirlik air force base from where
: American planes take off for bombing missions in Iraq. Washington
: got the hint. The pressure on Congress mounted.
: But the Armenians did not let up either. After years of failed
: attempts to pass decisions of this kind, it was a more radical
: Armenian group that succeeded this time. The upcoming elections and
: the tight race between the Republicans and Democrats over control of
: the House of Representatives played into their hands. The powerful
: Greek lobby also lent a hand.
: The National Armenian Congress of American has just announced a
: general mobilization from coast to coast. The Armenian community in
: the United States is eager to strike out against the "great Turkish
: Satan." It has also threatened to obstruct the $4.5-billion sale of
: 145 American assault helicopters to Turkey. The Turks, for their
: part,
: have recruited their real lobby in Washington: the Pentagon. They
: even mobilized the Armenian Orthodox Patriarch of Turkey, Masrob
: II, who warned that the Armenian initiative would harm the relations
: between the two communities.
: Both sides have made it clear that in this confrontation, "Anyone who
: is not with us is against us," as a Turkish source put it. Both have
: also promised not to forget those who helped whom "at the moment of
: truth," as an Armenian activist put it.
: This fierce struggle is difficult for the Jews. More than any other
: group of Americans, they feel caught between a rock and hard place.
: A major element in the close ties between Israel and Turkey is the
: Turkish aspiration to enjoy the assistance of Jewish organizations in
: the United States. The Jewish lobby, well aware of the importance of
: these relations, indeed generously extends Turkey its assistance. But
: it is finding it difficult to accede to the Turkish demands to block
: the Armenian initiative, which are based on the Turkish denial of the
: Armenian Holocaust.
: The Jewish organizations and Israeli representatives chose not to
: take
: a public stand on this matter, "because it does not concern Israel."
: As a result, the Turks and the Armenians are angry and the Jews may
: end up losing on both ends. Behind the scenes, Jewish sources in
: Washington have expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the
: Armenian initiative. They feel that it is harmful to everyone.
: To the Armenian activists they say that there is no chance for this
: legislation to pass in the House of Representatives and afterward in
: the Senate, but the Turks, in revenge, are liable to harm Armenia, to
: stop flights there and to block its outlet to
