House Panel’s Stance on Killing of Armenians Angers Turkey
Turks expressed anger and disappointment Friday that a panel of U.S. lawmakers recognized the killings of about 1.5 million Armenians by Turks from 1915 to 1923 as a genocide.
The House International Relations Committee’s panel on human rights passed a resolution Thursday calling on President Clinton to label the deaths a genocide--the systematic annihilation of a racial, political or cultural group.
“Turkey is doing its best for peace in the Caucasus, but taking a position in favor of the Armenian resolution is an extremely ugly and saddening event,” Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said.
“Some irresponsible politicians have an impact on foreign policy, and this is creating tensions,” Ecevit warned, adding that Turkey’s “very good relations with the United States . . . are being harmed.”
The Clinton administration has come out strongly against the resolution, arguing that it would damage Turkish-U.S. ties. Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a close U.S. ally.
Armenians say about 1.5 million people were slaughtered between 1915 and 1923 as part of a campaign of genocide aimed at forcing the Armenian population from eastern Turkey.
Turkey says both Armenians and Turks were killed during the civil unrest.
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