House Resolution 106, formally recognizing the Armenian Genocide as such, passed a minute ago in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in the U.S. Congress.

26 27 voted in favor, 21 voted against.

In his opening statement, Committee chair Tom Lantos said,

Today we are not considering whether the Armenian people were persecuted and died in huge numbers at the hands of Ottoman troops in the early 20th Century. There is unanimity in the Congress and across the country that these atrocities took place. If the resolution before us stated that fact alone, it would pass unanimously.

The controversy lies in whether to make it United States policy at this moment in history to apply a single word – genocide – to encompass this enormous blot on human history.

The United Nations Convention on Genocide defines the term as a number of actions, and I quote, “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” These actions include killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part.

Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time of the atrocities, wrote — and I am quoting — “I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared with the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915.”

The leadership of the United States has been in universal agreement in condemning the atrocities but has been divided about using the term “genocide.”

On one occasion, President Ronald Reagan referred to, I quote, “the genocide of the Armenians.”

But subsequent Presidents — George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, have refrained from using the word out of deference to Turkish sentiments on the matter.

In recognizing this tragedy, some in Congress have seen common themes with the debate our committee held earlier this year on a resolution about another historic injustice – the tens of thousands of so-called “Comfort Women” forced into sexual slavery by Imperial Japan. The current Japanese government went to great length to attempt to prevent debate on that matter, and dire predictions were made that passage of such a resolution would harm U.S.-Japan relations. Those dire consequences never materialized.

A key feature distinguishing today’s debate from the one on the “Comfort Women” resolution is that U.S. troops are currently engaged in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our troops depend on a major Turkish airbase for access to the fighting fronts, and it serves as a critical part of the supply lines to those fronts. A growing majority in Congress, and I am among them, strongly oppose continued U.S. troop involvement in the civil war in Iraq, but none of us wants to see those supply lines threatened or abruptly cut.

All eight living former secretaries of state recently cautioned Congress on this matter. And I quote, “It is our view,” write former Secretaries Albright, Baker, Christopher, Eagleburger, Haig, Kissinger, Powell and Shultz, “that passage of this resolution … could endanger our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and damage efforts to promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey.”

Three former secretaries of defense – Carlucci, Cohen and Perry – this week advised Congress that passage of this resolution, and I quote again, “would have a direct, detrimental effect on the operational capabilities, safety and well being of our armed forces in Iraq and in Afghanistan.”

Members of this committee have a sobering choice to make. We have to weigh the desire to express our solidarity with the Armenian people and to condemn this historic nightmare through the use of the word “genocide” against the risk that it could cause young men and women in the uniform of the United States armed services to pay an even heavier price than they are currently paying. This is a vote of conscience, and the Committee will work its will.

The Chairman, who voted yes on the resolution, also said the next markup would be a resolution introduced by him reaffirming Turkey’s and America’s friendship.

If I read the website of the U.S. House of Representative Committee on Foreign Affairs correctly, the Armenian Genocide bill has been removed from tomorrow’s schedule. Here is the announcement as of [this second] – 8:27 p.m. on Tuesday, October 8, 2007, Eastern Time US:

This was a reference to a PKK-related resolution that was removed from consideration. The Armenian Genocide resolution is on.

Full Committee

Tom Lantos (D-CA), Chairman

You are respectfully requested to attend the following OPEN hearing of the Full Committee, to be held in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building .

Date:

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Time:

1:30 PM

Markup Of:

H. Res. 106, Calling upon the President 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 for other purposes.

**NOTE: Measure has been removed.

An article in the Congressional Quarterly on the Armenian Genocide legislation and the issue of former Congress members becoming foreign agents gives interesting insights into the heavy lobbying effort by Turkey to stop the passage of House Resolution 106.

CQ TODAY
Oct. 5, 2007 – 7:55 p.m.

Turkey Hires Familiar Faces for Genocide Debate

By Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff

In 2003, Richard A. Gephardt cosponsored a resolution that put the “Armenian genocide” in company with the Holocaust and mass deaths in Cambodia and Rwanda.

In 2000, the Missouri lawmaker backed a similar measure, and in a letter to then-Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Gephardt said he was “committed to obtaining official U.S. government recognition of the Armenian genocide.”

Now Gephardt is a foreign agent lobbying on behalf of Turkey, and he’s got a different view of the world. He’s working to stymie the latest version of an Armenian genocide resolution.

If the resolution (H Res 106) gets through committee this week, it will bring a billing bonanza for lobbyists working against it — including Gephardt, who represents one of the newest additions to a small group of former lawmakers who serve as the American face of foreign countries on Capitol Hill.

The Armenian resolution is popular — with 226 co-sponsors — but problematic, given that Turkey is an important Muslim ally in a strategically vital part of the world.

The events at issue occurred nearly a century ago in what was then the Ottoman Empire, but Turkey is still sensitive to characterizations of the killings.

Gephardt, responding via e-mail to written questions, confirmed that he had escorted Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy to meetings with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders.

Gephardt (1977-2005) acknowledged that he had in the past actively supported efforts to label activities of the Ottoman Empire as genocide. But “alienating Turkey through the passage of the resolution could undermine our efforts to promote stability in the theater of operations, if not exacerbate the situation further,” he said.

Pelosi, D-Calif., declined to comment on any private talks about Turkey, saying only that she would welcome talks on the measure and other issues with Gephardt, who preceded her as House Democratic leader. “I have the highest regard for Dick Gephardt. Any advice he has on any subject is indeed welcome by me,” she said.

Pelosi’s open door for Gephardt demonstrates the muscle former lawmakers can provide for clients by snagging meetings and conversations with the most powerful members of Congress. As with all other kinds of lobbying, they can’t assure success but they can give client countries access they might not otherwise have to the legislative branch.

When Republicans controlled Congress, they often blocked measures, such as the Armenian resolution, that could embarrass allies and the Bush administration.

In the 110th Congress, foreign countries have had mixed success trying to slow or water down such measures.

Despite the help of prominent lobbyists, such as former House Minority Leader Bob Michel, R-Ill. (1957-1995), Japan lost a battle in July when the House passed a resolution (H Res 121) urging it to apologize for using sex slaves, or comfort women, in World War II.

Working with lobbyists associated with DLA Piper, the firm where Gephardt is a senior counsel, Ethiopia got plenty of support from the White House. But the country failed to delay House action on a plan (HR 2003) by Donald M. Payne, D-N.J., to limit security assistance unless it moves to release political prisoners and protect human rights.

Gephardt said he had met with Ethiopian representatives but elected not to work for Ethiopia.

However, Gephardt has been active on behalf of Turkey, which has long insisted that Armenians died not from genocide, but in conflicts tied to World War I — including an uprising against Turkey’s Ottoman rulers.

Also representing Turkey is former Rep. Robert L. Livingston, R-La. (1977-1999).

Another former congressman, Stephen J. Solarz, D-N.Y. (1975-1993), worked for Turkey until August.

The Foreign Affairs Committee plans to take up the Armenian genocide resolution on Wednesday, and Payne and other members predict it will have broad bipartisan support on the panel.

Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., said a House vote on the Armenian genocide resolution has not been scheduled, but he believes it will happen this year. “It’s my expectation we will have a floor vote before we leave here in November,” Hoyer said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., backs a companion measure (S Res 106), but it has less momentum: just 32 co-sponsors.

Tougher Limits Sought

Critics argue that former lawmakers give foreign countries too much power inside the Capitol and are calling for tougher restrictions and revolving-door limits.

For example, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, has called for a lifetime ban (HR 168) to prevent lawmakers and senior government officials from becoming foreign agents.

“Public confidence in government is shaken when they see high-level officials and lawmakers going to work for foreign countries,” she said.

In response to such critiques, Gephardt and other foreign agents contend they seek to merely ensure a vigorous debate, not special favors for foreign countries.

“The better informed members are about all aspects of a particular issue, the more likely Congress comes to the proper course of action,” Gephardt said.

He said he serves dual roles in “private conversations with former colleagues and meetings where I accompany the client.”

Livingston describes the role of foreign agents as calming what can be emotional fights. “It’s more intense than lobbying,” he said.

Working in tandem with the Bush administration, Gephardt, Livingston and, for a time, Solarz tapped their personal contacts to try to block the Armenian genocide resolution.

Last Dec. 19, Solarz sent a letter to Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., inviting him to lead a congressional delegation to Turkey and to visit Solarz’ home on its Mediterranean coast.

“You and other members of the delegation would be more than welcome to spend the evening and the next day with us,” Solarz wrote. “If not, I’ll still love you, but I’ll need to find someone else to do it.”

Wexler, who never made the trip to visit Solarz in Turkey, is not expected to support the resolution.

Turkey hired DLA Piper on May 10. Gephardt registered the next day to represent the country.

The firm has since circulated a package of materials to lawmakers that lays out Turkey’s case for foreign aid and its argument against the Armenian genocide resolution.

Lawmakers in both parties have long catered to the interests of Americans of Armenian descent, a small but vocal group. The Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues has about 120 members, while the Congressional Turkey Caucus is roughly half as large.

In 2000, Livingston and other advocates for Turkey won a victory when President Clinton urged Hastert to back away from a planned floor vote on an Armenian genocide resolution. “It wasn’t just Clinton. It was us working it hard,” Livingston said. “The Speaker changed his mind.”

Hoping for a similar reversal by Pelosi, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates have sent letters laying out the reasons they think the resolution would “significantly endanger U.S. national security interests.”

In the coming week, the lobbying focus will be on the Foreign Affairs Committee, where 22 of the 50 members are cosponsors, but some may be amenable to making word changes in the name of U.S-Turkish relations.

After that, the lobbying goes behind the scenes, and it will be up to Pelosi whether and when to allow a House floor fight.

U.S. Congress’ House Resolution 106 is “so-called,” the title of an article in Turkey’s nationalist Sabah newspaper suggests.

The article, “Six reprisals for the so-called bill,” states the possible “sanctions” that Turkey’s prime minister will advise about to U.S. officials next month in response to the growing probability of the Armenian Genocide being reaffirmed as such in a Congress resolution.

Link

Chauvinism or Racism? You decide.

From an Azerbaijani news agency:

NBC11 from California reports that the plaque, honoring the memory of Armenian Genocide victims, of the famous Mt. Davidson Cross in San Francsco has been stolen in an act of a possible hate crime. Turkish ultranationalists in action?
Link:http://www.nbc11.com/news/14230690/detail.html

A 160-pound, 3-by-4-foot bronze plaque that sat at the foot of San Francisco’s Mt. Davidson Cross has been stolen, San Francisco Police Captain Dennis O’Leary said Friday.

The giant plaque commemorated the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Turkish government from 1915 to 1918.

It was bolted to a concrete base.

“This is a very serious matter,” said O’Leary. “We are considering all possibilities.”

O’Leary said investigators were also considering the recycling value of the bronze plaque as a motive for the theft.

The department sent out a message and photos to all the metal recycling plants in the Bay Area, and an additional flier to police departments throughout California, O’Leary said.

The 103-foot Mt. Davidson Cross was built and inaugurated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934.

In 1997, the people of San Francisco voted to approve the sale of the cross to the Council of Armenian-American Organizations of Northern California to preserve the structure as an historic landmark.

[…]

A survivor of Darfur’s ongoing genocide (right) leaving the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, capital of the republic of Armenia, where the Olympic Torch for Darfur was lit by the eternal fire. Photo and Press release from AAA.

The torch relay is a message to China in asking to stop its support of the Sudanese regime that carries out the 21st century’s first genocide.

See story at ArmeniaNow.com.

At least one imported lighter in Armenia, an American ally in the war of terror, has an extra button that projects number one terrorist Bin Laden’s image while pushed, reports A1+. 

Lighters allegedly made by “Samsung” company are sold in Yerevan stalls. The mysterious picture of Usama Ben Laden is hidden under the lighter. When you turn on the lighter you see Ben Laden’s picture.

While Armenia’s officials are not able to verify where the lighter is from, many goods in Christian Armenia are imported from Muslim countries such as Turkey, Iran and Syria.

In the stall, were the lighter was bought, no one was able to tell as were they bought it for the purposes of resale. They ensured that they saw it for the first time, and that might be the only lighter with the picture of Ben Laden in the whole pack. Abgar Eghoyan, Chairman of the Consumer Rights Protection Union said that it was difficult to find out the country where the lighter was imported from, since it was a commercial secret. He also said that it might be imported illegally. “It is very difficult to find it out in our country. Unfortunately, there are goods in the country that are not certified and the sellers will hardly have the invoice of the goods”.

Samsung’s official website has no information on the lighters allegedly made by the techno giant.

Click here to watch the video that demonstrates the confiscated lighter’s projection of Bin Laden.

Another journalist is facing charges of “insulting Turkishness” in Turkey for an article titled “Turkey Has Made Mistakes.”

“The state made mistakes. When and where? Yesterday, in the East and South-East. then in Istanbul. In Maras and Sivas. Today in Trabzon, Istanbul, Mersin and in the South-East.”

These words have taken journalist Haci Bogatekin to court.

Bogatekin owns the local Gerger Firat newspaper in Adiyaman, south-eastern Turkey. Because he criticised state policies in an article entitled “Turkey Has Made Mistakes”, published in his newspaper on 10 March 2007, he is on trial for “degrading Turkishness, the Republic, state institutions or its organs” – Article 301 once again.

Today (26 September), the Gerger penal court decided to have the next hearing on 6 November, in order to allow the journalist time to present evidence and prepare his defense.

Requested legal support 

Bogatekin has requested legal support from the Press Council and has said that he will ask the Adiyaman Bar Association for help.

At the court hearing today, Bogatekin’s complaint that the indictment had been prepared “without doing any research” was rejected by the court.

Call to “keep the country clean” 

In his article, Bogatekin holds the state responsible for “the deaths of millions of Armenians and Syriac Christians in the East and South-East, after that the deaths of the Alevi in Dersim, then the Greek Orthodox in Istanbul with the September movement, and more recently the deaths of hundreds of people in Maras, Malatya, Corum and Sivas”.

He also criticised the employment policies of the state, saying “Do those who murder in the name of the state, who siphon the money out of the banks make contacts with MIT [the Turkish secret service]?

Those exacting money have become like an army which dares to direct the state. In the East, they have begun to decide on the politics. Commanding themselves, they have started to do any job that is dirty and ominous, to exploit the people…”

He ends the article by saying, “Keeping this country clean is the duty of us all. If we do not accept this duty, the consequences will be dreadful. We will not have a future.” LINK