October 19, 2007	Friday	Shawwal 6, 1428

WASHINGTON: Prospects for a US House of Representatives resolution calling the 1915 killing of Armenians genocide looks dim as backers wavered on seeking a vote and opponents predicted it would not pass.

Enthusiasm has eroded sharply since the resolution was approved by a House committee last week. Both Republicans and Democrats are worried about its impact on critical Iraq war ally Turkey, which provides major logistic support to US troops.

Turkey has warned it would damage relations with the United States. President George Bush condemned the measure again on Wednesday and chided Congress for “sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire” instead of attending to more pressing responsibilities.

“Whether it will come up or not, what the action will be, remains to be seen,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, told reporters She had vowed it would get a vote of the full chamber sometime this year.

Nancy Pelosi said she had always supported the non-binding, largely symbolic resolution, but she would be working with other advocates to see what they wanted to do now.

“If it came to the floor today, it would not pass,” Rep.

John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and Pelosi confidant who opposes the measure, told reporters separately. He has urged Ms Pelosi for months not to bring it up for a vote.

Armenian-Americans have been pushing for passage of similar proposals for years, and this resolution was proposed by a California Democrat with many Armenian-Americans in his district, Rep. Adam Schiff.

But Turkey calls it insulting and rejects the Armenian allegation, backed by many Western historians, that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Turks during World War One.

After the Foreign Affairs Committee approved the resolution, Turkey recalled its ambassador for consultations, and hinted it might halt logistic support to US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan if the bill passed the House.

The United States is highly dependent on Turkey’s Incirlik air base. About 70 per cent of the US military air cargo into Iraq transits that base, according to the Defence Department.

“Congress has more important work to do than antagonising a democratic ally in the Muslim world, especially one that’s providing vital support for our military every day,” Bush said at a White House news conference.

Ronald Reagan, a Californian, was the only US president to publicly call the killings genocide. Others avoided the term out of concern for Turkey’s sensitivities -- although Pelosi read a statement she said Mr Bush made as a presidential candidate, calling the killings “a genocidal campaign”.

Last week the resolution enjoyed the co-sponsorship of more than half the House, but lawmakers from both parties have been backing away in recent days. Murtha said more than two dozen lawmakers came to his office to discuss it this week.

While Murtha opposes the Iraq war, he said the United States needed allies like Turkey.

“We don’t have the number of allies we used to have,” he said at a news conference with other Democrats asking Pelosi to drop plans for the vote. “We’ve lost so much credibility worldwide ... The coalition of the willing, there’s nobody left.”Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said opponents in his party were working with Democrats to ensure that if there were a vote, it would fail.

At the State Department, where US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others have lobbied hard against the resolution, officials welcomed growing opposition in Congress.

“They (lawmakers) have understood the potential for real problems and consequences of our bilateral relationship with Turkey,” said State Department spokesman Tom Casey. He said Turkey’s government had so far responded in a “very measured, appropriate way” to the resolution.—Reuters