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U.S. Resolution Could Damage Ties, Turkish General Says

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By C. ONUR ANT, The Associated Press

Published: October 15, 2007

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Turkey's top general warned that ties with the United States, already strained by attacks from rebels hiding in Iraq, will be irreversibly damaged if Congress passes a resolution that labels the World War I-era killings of Armenians a genocide.

Turkey, which is a major cargo hub for U.S. and allied forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, has recalled its ambassador to Washington and warned that there might be a cut in logistical support to the United States over the issue.

'If this resolution passed in the committee passes the House as well, our military ties with the U.S. will never be the same again,' Gen. Yasar Buyukanit told the daily Milliyet newspaper.

Despite the general's strong words, it is not clear how far Turkey will go to express its dismay to Washington.

Turkey suspended its military ties with France last year after the French parliament's lower house adopted a bill that would have made it a crime to deny that the killings constituted a genocide.

But there is more at stake for NATO's only Muslim member when it comes to its relations with the United States. The Turkish military, especially the air force, is heavily dependent on the U.S. defense industry, experts say.

Still, when Washington imposed an arms embargo against Turkey in 1975 in a dispute over Cyprus, Turkey ended its logistical support to U.S. troops and sharing of intelligence until the embargo was lifted, said Onur Oymen, the country's former permanent representative to NATO.

In an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's 'This Week,' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted that the resolution would make the United States the 24th country to label the killings a genocide.

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