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Backers Delay Genocide Vote

Turkish tensions scares off support

By Lucas Laursen,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 26, 2007 3:46 AM CDT
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(Newser) – The four primary sponsors of the House resolution to label the 1915 killings of Armenians in Turkey as genocide have withdrawn support, formally asking Speaker Nancy Pelosi to delay voting on the measure, the AP reports. Enthusiasm for the resolution withered after Turkey withdrew its US ambassador and threatened to block US military access to a critical Turkish airbase used to support operations in Iraq.

The resolution's passage by a House committee earlier this month prompted outraged demonstrations in Turkey, where the government insists the killings were due to civil unrest, not genocide. Confrontations between Turkish soldiers and Kurdish militants along the border with Iraq, which Turkey has threatened to invade, have added to the  tension. Still, lawmakers said they might bring the bill back for consideration later this year or in 2008.

In this photo provided by the Photlure photo agency in Armenia, a boy pauses in front of a wall-sized poster depicting the faces of 90 survivors of the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, in Yerevan, Armenia, in this April 20, 2005 file photo. It's shaping up as...
In this photo provided by the Photlure photo agency in Armenia, a boy pauses in front of a wall-sized poster depicting the faces of 90 survivors of the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire,...   (Associated Press)
Turkish protestors have condemned American efforts to label the 1915 killings of 1.5 million Armenians genocide.
Turkish protestors have condemned American efforts to label the 1915 killings of 1.5 million Armenians genocide.   (Getty Images)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)   (Associated Press)
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Pelosi would have been caught between a powerful constituency and a major ally
Los Angeles Times

 
Nancy Pelosi • Turkey • genocide • Armenia • Armenian Resolution • Armenian genocide

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