is this a joke

Byrnzie

macgyver06 wrote:

i immediately got the impression that...(since this is now an issue and bush and rice think it was necessary to comment on their stance)... they are spineless...bush and rice..

are we this afraid of turkey? to not only excuse them, but to go along with the idea that this never even happened...

Turkey is supplying the U.S with strategic airbases. That's what it comes down to. Just like Israel is simply a strategic U.S military base which would disappear the day America decided to stop propping it up. It's just power politics over the deaths of 1.5 million people - whose ancestors want their voices heard, and want official recognition of what happened.

Byrnzie

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7038900.stm

Thursday, 11 October 2007, 04:21 GMT 05:21 UK

Turkey condemns US Armenia vote


The Turkish president has denounced a vote by a committee of the US Congress recognising as genocide the 1915 mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

President Abdullah Gul said the decision was unacceptable and had no validity for Turkey, which has always denied any genocide took place.

The White House said it was very disappointed by the non-binding vote.

It fears Turkey could now limit cooperation in the war on terror and provision of military bases near Iraq.

The genocide bill passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee by 27 votes to 21 - the first step towards holding a vote in the House of Representatives.

President Bush had argued against a vote in favour of the bill, saying "its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in Nato and in the global war on terror".

Turkey is a regional operational hub for the US military, and some suggest access to Incirlik airbase, or other supply lines crucial to US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, could be cut in response.

catefrances

i am so sick of politics. and worse...politicians.

polaris

catefrances wrote:

i am so sick of politics. and worse...politicians.

just exactly what they want

tybird

mammasan wrote:

In a 100 years we will still be the United States. So to hold the future us responsible is acceptable. 100 years ago Turkey was not Turkey, it was the Ottoman Empire. Like I said would it be fair to hold Italy responsible for the actions of the Roman empire?

Some of the "efforts" against the Armenians took place both during the Ottoman years and during Turkish independence. Besides, the Turks were the rulers of the empire at that time.

mammasan

tybird wrote:

Some of the "efforts" against the Armenians took place both during the Ottoman years and during Turkish independence. Besides, the Turks were the rulers of the empire at that time.

I knew that the Ottoman Empire was ruled by Turks but was not aware that the atrocities carried out against the Armenians also transpired after Turkish independence. Thank you for correcting me.

soulsinging

congress doesn't have anything else to do but debate the proper terminology for something that happened 100 years ago?

tybird

mammasan wrote:

I knew that the Ottoman Empire was ruled by Turks but was not aware that the atrocities carried out against the Armenians also transpired after Turkish independence. Thank you for correcting me.

Not correcting.....such a harsh word.....just informing.

LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

bush and rice are against this because they are afraid that turkey will be angered and that the US may not be able to use their airspace or their land for operations in the middle east. every supply going to our troops flies through turkey's airspace. and if the US plans on launching further attacks in iraq or going into iran, they will need to launch from or go through turkey to make it logistically possible.

so the short of it is if turkey gets angry at us and denies our flying through their airspace, it makes further warring in the middle east more difficult logistically and less likely. that is the only reason bush and rice are against this.

all this is pretty obviously stated in the article...

gimmesometruth27

MrSmith wrote:

all this is pretty obviously stated in the article...

i didn't read the article.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

macgyver06 wrote:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/10/us.turkey.armenians/index.html


?

You would think so, but it's actually Pearl Jams message board.



















...oh you meant the URL...


sigh..

Its Evolution Baby

I currently date an Armenian and this issue is very important to her and her family. Bush and Condy's stance on this issue is DEPLORABLE. First of all it was a Genocide no ifs ands or buts about it. My girlfriend's family is now splintered between the US, Iran, and some still in Armenia and will sadly never fully reunite. The Genocide was very similar to the Holocaust. Should we forget about that to because it was 50 years ago. Imagine if Germany never acknowledged the Holocaust and neither did the rest of the world. Think of how offended Jews would be and rightfully so.

I am so mad right now I'm seeing red. Turkey has no right to deny the genocide. The people denying it took place are no better then the people who perpetrated the crimes. Why does the passage of this bill anger Turkey so much? It's because they know what happened but don't want to ever feel the guilt. I say pass the bill and FUCK our relationship with Turkey.