Obama vs. Obama: “During his election campaign Mr Obama promised to brand the mass killings genocide.”
An update on this story. “US Congress panel accuses Turkey of Armenian ‘genocide’,” from BBC News, March 4:
A US congressional panel has described the killing of Armenians by Turkish forces during World War I as genocide, despite White House objections.
The resolution was narrowly approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Turkey, a key US ally, responded by recalling its ambassador in Washington for consultations. It has fiercely opposed the non-binding resolution.
The White House had warned that the vote would harm reconciliation talks between Turkey and Armenia.
The resolution calls on President Barack Obama to ensure that US foreign policy reflects an understanding of the “genocide” and to label the World War I killings as such in his annual statement on the issue.
It was approved by 23 votes to 22 by the committee. […]
In 2007, a similar resolution passed the committee stage, but was shelved before a House vote after pressure from the George W Bush administration.
‘Too important’
During his election campaign Mr Obama promised to brand the mass killings genocide.
Before the vote, committee chairman Howard Berman urged fellow members of the committee to endorse the resolution.
“I believe that Turkey values its relationship with the United States at least as much as we value our relations with Turkey,” he said….