Turkey recalls ambassador to U.S. over Armenians

[ProSense]

Turkey recalls ambassador to U.S. over Armenians

By Paul de Bendern and Evren Mesci 47 minutes ago

ANKARA (Reuters) - NATO member Turkey recalled its ambassador to the United States for consultations on Thursday after a vote in a U.S. congressional committee branded killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide.

The committee's decision is expected to weaken U.S. influence over Turkey at a time when the government is considering a military incursion into mainly Kurdish northern Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels.

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The issue of the Armenian massacres is deeply sensitive in Turkey, where it is a crime to portray them as "genocide."

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The United States relies heavily on Turkish bases to supply its war effort in Iraq. Any Turkish offensive into northern Iraq would seriously strain ties with Washington and possibly hurt Turkey's bid for European Union membership.

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You have got to be sh***** me!

[Taverner]

1. Can't say we weren't warned

Yesterday's vote is looking dumber and dumber by the minute.

Does that mean that we'll invade Turkey after Iran?

[alarimer]

2. Turkey needs to wake up and acknowledge its role in that genocide

And it's about damn time too.

[Taverner]

3. Perhaps, but that's not our job

And digging it up is like going after the victims of the 1871 Paris Versailles Massacre.

[MrCoffee]

10. and a Congressional resolution will do that, will it?

[Taverner]

12. Here we go again

Welcome back :hi:

[MrCoffee]

13. If i could just get that question answered, i'd have no problem with this

without an answer to that question, however, i continue to oppose this resolution as needless antagonism

[ProSense]

4. The vote wasn't Dumb!

Call it Genocide. Turkey has been bombing northern Iraq for months despite U.S. objection. So what if they pull the rug out from under the U.S. in terms of basing. We don't belong in Iraq. It's time to end the illegal war.

It's genocide, why look the other way because they are allies?

Is that what our allies should do when it comes to Bush's war crimes?

[Taverner]

7. Yes, but what good did it do?

Absolutely nothing. We were condemming an atrocity that happened before anyone still on this planet was born, pissing off a country that is the ONLY Democratic Secular State in the Islamic world, and the net result is...nothing.

And it strikes of high hypocrisy that it's us (a nation which has two, count 'em two genocides under our belt) making the condemnation.

[ProSense]

9. I'm for condemning slavery too! n/t

[Taverner]

11. condemming, making reparations, ensuring it never happens again

We have to clean our own house first.

And it's not just Slavery - The Native American Genocide, The American Philippine Genocide (read up on General Pershing, war 'hero') and our genocide in Iraq (going since 91 and hasn't stopped yet)

[ProSense]

14. Call it genocide!

Why anyone would object is beyond me. I hope American Allies will be prepared to hold Bush accountable, end the hypocrisy.

[lyonn]

17. Still, why does it have to be an American declaration now?

If Turkey throws us out of their country, George will not stop his favorite war and his upcoming war with Iran.

America has precious few ME friends(?) and now we are going to punish Turkey for something that happened many years ago? Why now?

We knew all along the Turks didn't like the Kurds. It has been a delicate situation since the Iraq war.

Now if all hell breaks lose the repubs can blame the Dems. I hear many of our supplies into Iraq are through Turkey. Heaven knows we need to leave Iraq now but this won't do it. Maybe I'm missing something??

[Xipe Totec]

6. It means we won't have Turkey's cooperation if we invade Iran

And that is a good thing IMO.

[Taverner]

8. Well if there's a silver lining, there it is right there

:)

[Xipe Totec]

18. Cooperation need not be considered desirable

"Cooperation need not be considered desirable from the point of view of the rest of the world. There are times when one wants to retard, rather than foster cooperation between players. Collusive business practices are good for the businesses involved, but not so good for the rest of society. In fact, most forms of corruption are welcome instances of cooperation for the participants, but are unwelcome to everyone else. So, on occasion, the theory (of the evolution of cooperation) will be used in reverse to show how to prevent, rather than to promote cooperation"

- Robert Axelrod, The Evolution of Cooperation (Basic Books 1984)

:hi:

[lyonn]

5. Why is Nancy and others doing this?

Now is not the time to make Turkey our enemy. Mind boggling. Hope someone can explain the Dems decision to take this to the House floor??

[NNN0LHI]

15. Yes and hopefully Turkey won't mention that the USA is currently committing Genocide in Iraq

Wouldn't it be a shame if that truth got out?

Shhhhhh. Don't tell no one and it will be as though it never occurred.

Yea, sure.

Don

[Solly Mack]

16. ...

"Bagis added that Turkish frustration over the PKK was reaching a boiling point, and that the "only remedy" to the Armenia vote was US cooperation against the Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq."
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hqasblomeogDaWzwAuxXXqxYVICQ

[partylessinOhio]

19. Just saw a tape of Madame Squeaker saying as long as there is genocide

there is a need to speak out, paraphrasing - not exact. Her eyes were bulging out of her head and she looked like a robot. :wtf:

This happened in 1915. Our elected officials should be concerned about today - concerned about what is being done in the name of America - invasion and occupation - our secret prisons - our torture of our captives - wiretapping - the shredding of our Constitution.

Pelosi needs to be removed ASAP.

[bry2k]

20. I think this is madness.

What are my Democrats doing? Every day with this Congress makes them look worse and worse! They are doing the exact opposite of what they claimed they would do so much more of if they were in power: Building strong diplomatic bonds with our friends AND enemies. This is a stupid resolution that is only going to piss off our closest ally in the region and make it much harder to deploy our troops out of Iraq. We need the northern border with Turkey to fly equipment and fuel and troops in and more importantly OUT of Iraq. This resolution accomplishes nothing positive or productive, and the issue itself is debatable. The killing of Armenians, genocide or not, was the result of the destruction of the Ottoman empire at the end of WWI. It has little to do with modern day Turkey, and taking a position on it certainly has nothing to do with OUR interests. We are talking about Armenians, resting in their graves 90 years, while we have living breathing soldiers in Iraq that we will need to evacuate via Turkey in order to protect their lives. What the Democrats are doing right now is stupid stupid STUPID and I just don't understand it. My rep, Adam Schiff, sponsored this stupid resolution, obviously bowing to the pressure of the substantial Armenian immigrant population in his district. The special interest bullshit just never ends, no matter who's in power.

[partylessinOhio]

21. Carrying the water for special interests is killing us. Here was Madame today: