Speaking after the 27 to 21 vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee approving the resolution, Pelosi reaffirmed her determination to see the measure come to a vote in the House. "While that may have been a long time ago, genocide is taking place now in Darfur, it
did within recent memory in Rwanda, so as long as there is genocide there is need to speak out against it," said Pelosi.
Up to 1.5 million Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Christians were killed by Turkish Ottoman forces in the 1915-1917 period. Turkey’s government has denied the figure or the involvement of Turkish forces in mass killings and says the events did not constitute genocide.
It claims no more than 300,000 Armenians perished at the time, mainly because of hunger and disease after they were forcibly deported from eastern Turkey for having collaborated with invading Russian forces in the last days of the Ottoman Empire.
At least a dozen countries and many historians have recognized the killings as “genocide,” but anyone who challenges Turkey’s official version of history risks prosecution by Turkish authorities. Turkey and neighboring Armenia still have no official relations. Pelosi’s efforts to get the events recognized as genocide did not came as a surprise to observers: she comes from California, a state with a large Armenian population, and she is on record as favoring the resolution.
PRAISING DECISION
In published comments monitored by BosNewsLife Saturday, October 13, Karekin II, the religious leader of Armenian Christians worldwide, praised the Foreign Affairs vote. Speaking in Charlotte, North Carolina, Karekin II said it will help right an injustice and help relieve
the "pain [Armenian] people have in their hearts" after more than 90 years when the killings by the Ottoman Turks were often denied.
It brings, he said, "consolation to the souls of the victims and the survivors," The Charlotte Observer newspaper reported. Karekin II, who is currently on a trip across the United States, said the vote was important not just for Armenians but for all peoples, to ensure such a tragedy never happens again.
The was also expected to be welcomed by many of the estimated one million Armenian-Americans, with some of the biggest communities in Boston and Los Angeles. Armenian churches follow a liturgy that dates to the fourth century, when the Armenian people converted to Christianity. The church has a hierarchy similar to the Catholic Church, with priests, bishops and archbishops. Priests are allowed to marry, but bishops and their superiors are not.
RELIGION IMPORTANT
Analysts say religion has kept the Armenian people together through many tragic episodes in their history. In addition to the massacres by the Turks, which Armenians maintain were an attempt at genocide, the country was part of the Soviet Union from 1920 to 1990, when more
than 1,000 churches were closed, church watchers say.
Karekin told reporters he hopes the US vote will also encourage the people of 21st century Turkey to overcome the past and "live life more abundantly." That’s not how Turkey views the situation. It temporarily recalled its ambassador in Washington for consultations, a traditional method of diplomatic protest.
Speaking in Washington, Egemen Bagis, a member of Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party and advisor to Turkey’s Prime Minister, called the House committee vote a mistake and warned of consequences. However, Congresswoman Pelosi of the Democratic Pary said she hopes US-Turkish relations will remain strong.
"STRONG RELATIONSHIP"
"The U.S. and Turkey have a very strong relationship," she said. "It is based on mutual interest and I with all the respect in the world for the government of Turkey believe that our continued mutual interest will have us grow that relationship. This isn’t about the Erdogan government [Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan], this is about the [former] Ottoman Empire."
President George W. Bush, himself a self-declared born again Christian, said this week’s vote was a mistake. "Its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror," Bush said, shortly before the House Foreign Affairs Committee accepted the non-binding resolution recognizing the genocide.
