Armenian 'genocide' bill to test US-Turkish ties again

Howard Berman, the powerful Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, said Feb. 5 that he intends to call a committee vote on the resolution March 4.

The resolution would call on President Barack Obama to ensure that U.S. policy formally refers to the World War I-era killings of Armenians during the last days of the Ottoman Empire as “genocide” and to use that term when he delivers his annual message on the issue in April – something Obama avoided doing last year.

If the resolution is endorsed by the committee, it will next head toward a House floor vote. The same panel passed similar bills in 2000, 2005 and 2007, but the measures never came to a floor vote. In all three cases, the administrations of former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush strongly lobbied against the resolutions.

Although such congressional bills are non-binding, Turkey has been warning that any formal U.S. “genocide” recognition, either by Congress or the administration, would cause a major and lasting deterioration of relations with the United States. Turkish diplomats are now emphasizing that this policy remains in place.

/Hurriyet Daily News/