Bush: No Armenia genocide resolution
U.S. President Bush lobbied Wednesday against the Armenian Genocide Resolution as a U.S. House committee prepared to vote on it.
The administration fears that the symbolic resolution would hurt U.S. relations with Turkey, a critical partner in the Middle East and especially in the war in Iraq.
“We all deeply regret the tragic suffering of the Armenian people that began in 1915,” Bush said. “This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass killings, and its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror.”
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates gave a more detailed brief against the resolution after meeting with the president.
Gates said that 70 percent of air cargo coming into Iraq is transported via Turkey and 30 percent of the fuel used by coalition forces does as well. He said the commanders fear disrupting supply lines.
“They believe clearly that access to airfields and to the roads and so on in Turkey would be very much put at risk if this resolution passes and the Turks react as strongly as we believe they will,” Gates said. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International
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