We dhimmis are expected to lie about so much: Islam as a religion of peace, Muslim Spain as a proto-multicultural paradise of tolerance, the Turks as guiltless of genocide. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if we started telling the truth about history as well as present-day realities, and let the devil take the hindmost? “Turkish army chief says U.S. ties at risk,” by Paul de Bendern for Reuters (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist):
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s powerful military chief said on Sunday if the U.S. Congress approved a resolution branding the 1915 killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide ties between the NATO allies would never be the same again.
Ankara is a crucial ally for Washington, which relies on Turkey as a logistical base for the war in Iraq.
Some analysts believe the vote could weaken Washington’s influence over Turkey and increase the likelihood of a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq to crush Kurdish separatist rebels, who use the territory to stage attacks into Turkey.
“If the resolution that has passed in the U.S. committee is accepted by the assembly of the House of Representatives our military relations with the United States can never be the same again,” chief of General Staff, General Yasar Buyukanit, told newspaper Milliyet in his first public comments on the issue.
“We could not explain this to Turkish public opinion.”…
Ankara recalled its ambassador from the United States for consultations after the U.S. congressional committee vote, which was condemned in predominantly Muslim but secular Turkey.
The non-binding Armenian bill now goes to the floor of the House, where Democrat leaders say there will be a vote next month. The resolution, the culmination of decades of pressure, was proposed by a lawmaker who represents many Armenian-Americans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a long-time supporter of such a move.
Potential retaliatory moves by Turkey could include blocking U.S. access to the Incirlik air base, cancelling procurement contracts, denying airspace to U.S. aircraft and halting joint military exercises, diplomats say.
“I’m the chief of General Staff. I deal with security issues, I’m not a politician … in this respect the United States has shot itself in the foot,” Buyukanit said.
Turkey rejects the Armenian position, backed by many Western historians and some foreign parliaments, that up to 1.5 million Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks.