The President and Secretary of State called for Congress not to recognize the genocide of Armenians

American President George Bush called on the US Congress not to adopt a resolution that classifies the death of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1917.

A few hours before the vote on a resolution in the Committee on International Affairs of the House of Congress, US President George Bush said that the adoption of the resolution would cause "great harm" to relations with Turkey.

"We are all deeply regretted about the most difficult suffering of the Armenian people, which began in 1915," Bush said. However, in his opinion, the proposed resolution "is not the correct response to these mass killings," ITAR-TASS reports.

Bush pointed out that Türkiye is a moderately Muslim NATO member country, the territory of which is the most important transit point for goods sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. And the adoption of such a resolution "will cause great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and the global war with terrorism," Bush said, who more than once declared that not lawmakers, but historians should deal with the issue of genocide.

Shortly before Bush, he was invited not to adopt a resolution to the US Congress was also addressed by US Secretary of State Kondoliza Rice. Rice called the adoption of the resolution "very problematic" for US relations with Turkey and American politics in the Middle East. According to the Secretary of State, the bill would have had a “destabilizing influence on what we are trying to do in Iraq and Afghanistan,” since the United States “very depends on Turkey as an ally,” the Air Force reports.

It is expected that the draft resolution on Wednesday will be made to vote in the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the US Congress. On this occasion, a meeting of the chamber by reading the prayer was opened by the Supreme Patriarch and Catalikos of all Armenians Garen II, RIA Novosti reported.

In the draft resolution, Congress urges the US president to ensure the reflection of the country's foreign policy in the country's foreign policy against the Armenians by the Turkish Empire. "The Armenian genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, as a result of which almost two million Armenians were subjected to deportation, of which 1.5 million men, women and children were killed, and 500 thousand survivors were thrown out of their houses, which led to the cessation of the residence of the Armenians in their historical homeland, where they were more than 2.5 thousand years," the said in the way. The text of the document.

It contains a reminder that "on May 24, 1915, the Union forces - Great Britain, France and Russia made a joint statement, clearly and for the first time in history accusing another government of committing a" crime against humanity. "

The resolutions of the resolution were 226 congressmen, which is enough to take it at a meeting of the chamber. The speaker of the Nancy Pelosi chamber through his press secretary has already stated that she would put a resolution on voting during the current session of the Congress in the event of today's positive vote in the profile committee.

Although this document has no compulsory force, its adoption is fraught with a complication of relations with a long -standing strategic partner of the United States Turkey. Attempts to conduct this legislative initiative were made in the Congress more than once, including under the last administration of Bill Clinton, but they were unsuccessful. The US government recognizes the "mass destruction of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire", but never mentions the word "genocide".

The statement of the head of the US administration was made at the moment when Türkiye announced his intention to carry out a counter -terrorism operation in the Northern Iraq to destroy the strongholds of the Kurdish Workers' Party. The United States is currently actively convinced by Turkey to refrain from carrying out any military operations in the north of Iraq.

Consequences for the United States

In a letter sent on Tuesday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul calls on the US president "pay attention to serious problems that will arise in bilateral relations if the resolution is adopted."

"Turkey threats against the United States can be implemented," said Dr. Ruben Safrastyan, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. In his opinion, military operations against the Kurdish Workers Party will be the priority step of Turkey, which the United States always spoke out against.

In addition, the adoption of a resolution may push Turkey to a more independent foreign policy. "The resolution, which, as it seems to me, will be adopted, is not a legal document that can oblige the US President to say the word" genocide. "This is just the law of the House of Representatives. It may not even be presented to the US Senate. Turkey simply has a reason for pursuing its own foreign policy," Safstryan noted.