Talking Turkey
Turkey has reacted with anger over the vote from the House Foreign Affairs Committee's vote to approve the Armenian Genocide motion. Rather a lot of anger, in fact.
Turkey reacted angrily today to a House committee vote in Washington on Wednesday that condemned the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during World War I as an act of genocide, calling the decision “unacceptable.”
a rare and uncharacteristically strong condemnation, President Abdullah Gul criticized the vote by the House Foreign Relations Committee and warned that the decision could work against the United States.
“Unfortunately, some politicians in the United States have once more dismissed calls for common sense, and made an attempt to sacrifice big issues for minor domestic political games,” Mr. Gul said in a statement to the semi-official Anatolian News Agency. “This is not a type of attitude that works to the benefit of, and suits, representatives of a great power like the Unites States of America. This unacceptable decision of the committee, like similar ones in the past, has no validity and is not worthy of the respect of the Turkish people.”
The situation has worsened since that article was posted. Turkey has recalled their ambassador, a very big diplomatic deal.
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.
I spoke my piece last night. Here's what a couple of others are saying today:
PoliBlog: While calling the deaths of the 1.5 million Armenians starting in 1915 a genocide may be the right thing to do semantically speaking, I am not sure what practical benefit it has at this exact moment in time.
The Glittering Eye: In the meanwhile I don’t think that alienating Turkey makes a great deal of sense but I see it as just another step towards the U. S. isolating itself from the rest of the world. One country at a time, guys. One country at a time.
OTB: The value to be gained by passing this resolution, beyond mollifying a small interest group, is non-existent. The potential harm to U.S. national security interests is substantially greater.
Politics, World news | Gaius Thursday, 11 October , 2007
By sam, Thursday, 11 October , 2007 @ 4:21 pm
I have to wonder what is gained this declaration. What does it accomplish?
On the other hand, Turkey seems to be pretty thin-skinned on the Armenian subject. What’s the big deal admitting that 100 years ago they did something bad?
By terrence, Thursday, 11 October , 2007 @ 9:58 pm
I am shocked that you folks do not appreciate what these faithful memebers of the Holy Church of the Empty Gesture have done. They have EXPRESSED their holy FEELINGS, and feelings are HOLY. The expression of feelings must never be surpressed or censured - unless, of course, they are right-wing conservative feelings (which are nothing more than hatred). Amen!