Turkey is pulling out all the stops to convince US lawmakers not to proceed with a possible vote on Armenian ‘genocide’ claims in a House vote tentatively scheduled for Tuesday. High-ranking Turkish political figures have warned that a positive vote could have a deep effect on US-Turkish relations
Turkey is redoubling its efforts to prevent a possible U.S. House of Representatives vote Tuesday on Armenian "genocide" claims, with the country’s prime minister sending a letter to President Barack Obama outlining the gravity of the situation.
"In the letter Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] drew attention to the seriousness and sensitivity of the situation. He called President Obama to make active efforts in order to prevent the resolution from going to the House. Erdoğan reminded [the president] of the efforts of Ankara to normalize relations with Armenia," a Turkish Foreign Ministry official told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review Monday.
“Foreign Minister [Ahmet] Davutoğlu, the Turkish Embassy in Washington, Turkish and U.S. Azerbaijani lobbies and Turkish-U.S. friendship groups are urging U.S. officials to avoid the resolution,” the same official said.
In early December the Armenian National Committee of Armenia, or ANCA, called upon U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to put the bill on “Recognition of the Armenian Genocide (HR252)” to a vote before the current Congress’s term of office expires.
In response, Pelosi offered a discussion of the draft resolution on the bill within 48 hours but it was still unclear Monday whether the draft would be put to the House within the timeframe offered by the speaker.
According to a source in Ankara, Pelosi could either foresee that the bill would not receive enough votes, meaning she could decide to withdraw the resolution. The source, however, said this scenario was less realistic because the resolution is said to be important for the speaker.
Alternatively, the House could vote on the resolution Tuesday, the source said. Since the bill was surprisingly passed in House Foreign Affairs Committee in March, the same could again happen in the House, the source added.
The resolution merely calls upon the U.S. government to recognize 1915 incidents as "genocide." “It is only recommendatory. Therefore it is a non-binding resolution if it is accepted in the House of Representatives – but it would have a psychological impact,” a diplomatic source told the Daily News.
Turkish diplomatic sources said Ankara has received overwhelming support from the upper echelons of the U.S. government, citing Deputy Secretary of State Philip Crowley’s statement Friday that the State Department was categorically against the potential vote.
Davutoğlu spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week and asked her to halt the adoption of the resolution.
Turkish Embassy staff in Washington D.C. have been holding talks with high-ranking U.S. executives in White House, the National Security Council and the departments of State and Defense to prevent the vote, sources said.
Meanwhile, the Turkish-U.S. Friendship Group in Congress has been sending letters against the resolution, calling on Congress members close to Turkey to become part of the efforts against the resolution.
The bill drafted by Adam Schiff and other pro-Armenian congressmen was approved in March by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, but it was not put on the agenda for a full House vote due to the White House’s intervention.
After the vote, Turkey recalled its ambassador to the U.S., with Ambassador Namık Tan only returning to Washington one month later.
My Note:
If my memory serves me correctly, this vote was prevented approximately one year ago, by Obama. Why? Could it be that according to Obama's apologies to the world for America, our enemies are now our friends and evil is "good", while good is "evil"?In the same Hyrriyet Daily News, printed just one day ago, Dec. 19, 2010, the headline reads: "Relationship with Turkey "more important than ever," US president says". The president is also quoted in this article as saying:
Following a recent conversation with the Turkish prime minister, U.S. President Barack Obama told daily Hürriyet in an e-mail interview that the two leaders had “reaffirmed the strong state of U.S.-Turkish relations” despite some differences “from time to time.”
In the interview, Obama, who traveled to Turkey in April 2009 in one of his first trips abroad as head of state, addressed many of the most important issues facing the country, including its European Union accession bid; its diplomatic relations with Israel and the West; and its internal dealings with its Kurdish population and its religious minorities.
To ignore history and Turkey's Armenian ‘genocide’ is the same as ignoring Six Million Jews murdered during WWII.
Why are we still friends with Turkey? Turkey - a country that has sided with our enemies, Iran and Syria. Turkey - its leaders so anti-Semitic, while blaming Israel for deteriorations in relationships, after it sends a ship loaded with terrorists to the Gaza Strip, ignoring Israel's blockade. Turkey - instigating hatred of the Jews and Israel, by choosing to side with Iran, (anyone figure out that by choosing Iran, it also is against the West i.e. the U.S.?) truly cannot be a friend of the United States.
Turkey - a country promoting propaganda against Israel and the Jews throughout the world, in the same manner as Hitler once did yesterday and today, Hamas and other terrorist groups continue, by way of making one of the most anti-Semitic movies ever published (see below Hebrew):
Video: Trailer For Turkish Action Film About The Mavi Marmara
Here is the trailer, with English subtitles, for a Turkish movie following Polat Alemdar and his team as they go to Israel to track down the Israelimilitary commander who planned and and carried out the May 31, 2010 Israeli boarding of the Gaza Flotilla ship, the Mavi Marmara.About what you might expect.
Here is the trailer, with English subtitles, for a Turkish movie following Polat Alemdar and his team as they go to Israel to track down the Israelimilitary commander who planned and and carried out the May 31, 2010 Israeli boarding of the Gaza Flotilla ship, the Mavi Marmara.
About what you might expect.
It was inevitable that Turkey’s answer to Jack Bauer, Polar Alemdar, would be traveling to Palestine in the heat of the recent turmoil on the Mediterranean.“Kurtlar Vadisi” (Valley of the Wolves) is a cult TV and movie phenomenon in Turkey and has cashed in on Turkey’s political agenda for years. The original TV series established a leading man, Alemdar, in the image of a mafia-macho Turkish guy, admired by unemployed and frustrated young men all over Turkey. Short and ordinary looking, Polat had a self-defined sense of justice that included hanging traitors in the city center of Istanbul.“Kurtlar Vadisi” became an instant hit with its references to Turkish politics, its unabashed abuse of social sensitivities on patriotism, and with unprecedented scenes of violence that included assassination and torture on television. Then came the movie “Kurtlar Vadisi – Irak” (Valley of the Wolves – Iraq) in 2006, the most expensive Turkish movie at the time. That edition of the franchise told the story of hero Alemdar’s fight against the “evil” U.S. troops in Iraq.Last year, Turkey’s recent agenda on conspiracies of the deep state fuelled by the Ergenekon investigation opened the way for another installment in a series of movies, “Kurtlar Vadisi – Gladio.”The news of a new film in the series came just days after Israel’s attack on the Gaza flotilla. The name of the movie was enough for millions to buy tickets, “Kurtlar Vadisi – Filistin” (Valley of the Wolves – Palestine). Although there is no trailer for the movie at the moment, expect Alemdar to infiltrate Mossad and humiliate a number of Israelis along the way.
Israel has criticized previous films in this series, which has appeared both as a TV series and film:
Israeli politicians and media outlets roundly condemned an episode of the popular Turkish soap opera, “Valley of the Wolves: Ambush,” that depicted the Israeli intelligence service Mossad spying inside Turkey and kidnapping Turkish babies. The program also showed Mossad attacking the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv and taking the ambassador and his familyhostage.In a written statement, “Valley of the Wolves: Ambush” producer Pana Film said the show “will continue to tell the truth and expose the wrongs.”
The League’s letter also pointed to two recent television dramas which portrayed Israelis and the Israeli military as inherently evil and conniving. The recent television series “Valley of the Wolves” reportedly featuredIsraeli agents as baby snatchers.“While we have celebrated Turkey’s history of coexistence with Jews and the protection Turkish society provides for its Jewish community, we cannot ignore this new atmosphere and its potential consequences,” said Mr. Foxman. “We respectfully urge the Turkish government to speak out directly to reject anti-Semitism and incendiary demonizing depictions of Israel and Israelis, and to reiterate Turkey’s support for its Jewish community.”ADL raised similar concerns in a letter to Mr. Erdogan in October 2009.
But the TV series and movies are popular–so popular that apparently a number of men have changed their name to Polar Alemdar.
In Turkey, anti-Semitism sells.
CROSS-POSTED FROM: DALED AMOS
In years past, America was not afraid to stand up to countries that refused to honor the rights of all people, democracies, and freedom.
What has happened to America? I know what is happening in Turkey - and so should each and every elected official in Washington!
Ladies and Gentlemen, before voting tomorrow, seriously think about the road Obama is choosing and then, choose to do the opposite!
Bee Sting
