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UNCLE WALLY
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071011/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_us_genocide;

Turkey threatens repercussions for U.S.

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer


Thu Oct 11, 7:14 PM ET



Turkey, which is a key supply route to U.S. troops in Iraq, recalled
its ambassador to Washington on Thursday and warned of serious
repercussions if Congress labels the killing of Armenians by Turks a
century ago as genocide.

Ordered after a House committee endorsed the genocide measure, the

summons of the ambassador for consultations was a further sign of the
deteriorating relations between two longtime allies and the potential
for new turmoil in an already troubled region.

Egeman Bagis, an aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told
Turkish media that Turkey - a conduit for many of the supplies shipped
to American bases in both Iraq and Afghanistan - might have to "cut
logistical support to the U.S."

Analysts also have speculated the resolution could make Turkey more
inclined to send troops into northern Iraq to hunt Turkish Kurd
rebels, a move opposed by the U.S. because it would disrupt one of the
few relatively stable and peaceful Iraqi areas.

"There are steps that we will take," Turkey's prime minister told
reporters, but without elaboration. It also wasn't clear if he meant
his government would act immediately or wait to see what happens to
the resolution in Congress.

He declined to answer questions about whether Turkey might shut down
Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, a major cargo hub for U.S. and
allied military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey's Mediterranean
port of Iskenderun is also used to ferry goods to American troops.

"You don't talk about such things, you just do them," Erdogan said.

The measure before Congress is just a nonbinding resolution without
the force of law, but the debate has incensed Turkey's government.

The relationship between the two NATO allies, whose troops fought
together in the Korean War in 1950-53, have stumbled in the past. They
hit a low in 2003, when Turkey's parliament refused to allow U.S.
forces use their country as a staging ground for the invasion that
toppled Saddam Hussein.

But while the threat of repercussions against the U.S. is appealing
for many Turks, the country's leaders know such a move could hurt
Turkey's standing as a reliable ally of the West and its ambitions to
be a mediator on the international stage.

The Turks did suspend military ties with France last year after
parliament's lower house approved a bill that would have made it a
crime to deny the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey amounted to
genocide. But Turkey has much more to lose from cutting ties to the
U.S.

The United States is one of its major business partners, with $11
billion in trade last year, and the U.S. defense industry provides
much of the Turkish military's equipment.

Turkey's ambassador in Washington, Nabi Sensoy, was ordered home for
discussions with the Turkish leadership about what is happening in
Congress, Foreign Minister spokesman Levent Bilman said. He said
Sensoy would go back after seven to 10 days.

"We are not withdrawing our ambassador. We have asked him to come to
Turkey for some consultations," Bilman said. "The ambassador was given
instructions to return and will come at his earliest convenience."

The Bush administration, which is lobbying strongly in hopes of
persuading Congress to reject the resolution, stressed the need for
good relations with Turkey.

"We look forward to his quick return and will continue to work to
maintain strong U.S.-Turkish relations," said Gordon Johndroe, a
spokesman for the National Security Council. "We remain opposed to
House Resolution 106 because of the grave harm it could bring to the
national security of the United States."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the measure is damaging relations
at a time when U.S. forces in Iraq rely heavily on Turkish permission
to use their airspace for cargo flights.

About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey
as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military there.
U.S. bases also get water and other supplies carried in overland by
Turkish truckers who cross into Iraq's northern Kurdish region.

In addition, C-17 cargo planes fly military supplies to U.S. soldiers
in remote areas of Iraq from Incirlik, avoiding the use of Iraqi roads
vulnerable to bomb attacks. U.S. officials say the arrangement helps
reduce American casualties.

U.S.-Turkish ties already had been strained by Turkey's complaint the
U.S. hasn't done enough to stop Turkish Kurd rebels from using bases
in northern Iraq to stage attacks in southeastern Turkey, a
predominantly Kurdish region where tens of thousands have died in
fighting since 1984.

Turkish warplanes and helicopter gunships attacked suspected positions
of Kurdish rebels on the border this week and Turkey's parliament was
expected to vote next week on a proposal to allow the military to
pursue a large-scale offensive in northern Iraq.

The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, was invited to the Foreign
Ministry, where officials conveyed their "unease" over the resolution
in Congress and asked the Bush administration do all in its power to
stop passage by the full House, a Foreign Ministry official said. He
spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make
press statements.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks around the time of World War I. Turkey denies the deaths
constituted genocide, saying the killings didn't come from a
coordinated campaign but rather during unrest accompanying the Ottoman
Empire's collapse.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the resolution Thursday
despite intense lobbying by Turkish officials and the opposition from
President Bush. The vote was a triumph for well-organized Armenian-
American interest groups that have lobbied Congress for decades to
pass a resolution.

The administration will now try to pressure Democratic leaders in
Congress not to schedule a vote, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
indicated they were committed to going forward.

"Why do it now? Because there's never a good time and all of us in the
Democratic leadership have supported" it, she said.

Turkish officials said the House had no business to get involved in
writing history.

"It is not possible to accept such an accusation of a crime which was
never committed by the Turkish nation," Turkey's government said after
the committee adopted the measure.

___


http://newsblaze.com/story/20071011134409payn.nb/newsblaze/OPINIONS/Opini

Crossfire War - War to Resume in Southeast Europe - Kosovo October 14


By Willard Payne

Crossfire War - RAPID FIRE NEWS=TEHRAN - BELGRADE - KOSOVSKA MITROVICA
WATCH - Southeast Europe Theatre: Tehran - Moscow - Belgrade - Athens
- Banja Luka - Skopje - Sofia - Podogrica - Kosovska Mitrovica/
(Brussels - Vienna - Warsaw)/Pristina - Tirana - Sarajevo - Ankara -
Tehran; Serb Paramilitary Unit Tzar Lazar Guard to Demand UN - NATO
Forces Leave Kosovo - Demand to be Presented to Serbian Parliament -
Bomb Explosion at Religious Shrine in Rajasthan India - New Attacks in
Kashmir - Heavy Arms Traffic into Darfur - US Camp Victory in Iraq
Attacked
Night Watch: KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - The timetable for the resumption of
war in the former Yugoslavia has just become clearer. It is almost
certainly to break out again on the fourteenth of this month as the
Serbian paramilitary unit Tzar Lazar Guard stage a demonstration
Sunday at Kosovska Mitrovica in northern Kosovo, an area still mostly
Serbian. B92 reports before then, today, the guard will present a
petition to the Serbian Parliament in Belgrade demanding the Serbian
government declare a state of war when Albanians in Serbia's Kosovo
province declare independence, something Albanian leaders have stated
they are going to do in December, but in the meantime Albanian
nationalist groups like the Albanian National Army have aired and
publicized their readiness to fight for independence immediately. The
guard commander, Hadzi Andre Milic is to make a statement at 11 am
today once the petition has been submitted. [B92]

The Tzar Lazar Guard has already been designated an illegal
organization by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and other
international military units in NATO-KFOR and the KPS agree but the
guard will arrive in Kosovska Mitrovica and demand all those military
units leave Kosovo. The guard states they will declare war if those
units do not. This is why Tehran signed a military - security
agreement with Belgrade in January 2006 knowing Serbia was in the
process of rearming and Iran is always willing to support any
government that has the same enemy. War in this region will be used by
Tehran to not only keep NATO-Brussels occupied but will also be used
to silence Vienna and the UN agency based there that has been
investigating Iran's nuclear weapons program. It is for that reason
Iran had one of its missile experts, General Alireza Asqhari arrive in
Turkey in February. Asqhari is a high-level liaison officer working
with Ankara in order to launch some of Iran's Shahab-3 ballistic
missiles at Vienna, which is hated by everyone in the Balkans once
again. Disputes and crisis in this region provided the flashpoint for
the First World War 1914-18 and the division of Yugoslavia in 1991 has
resurrected European disputes all across the continent.

Ajmer - In order to create an atmosphere of fear and chaos Tehran had
its agents set off a bomb in one of India's most important religious
shrines, used by Muslims-Hindus-Sikhs, the latter being a combination
of Hindu and Islam. The 12th century Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti shrine to
the Sufi saint is believed to benefit the poor. It is located in
Ajmer, Rajasthan 215 miles (350 km) southwest of Delhi and has even
been visited by heads of state Pakistan President General Pervez
Musharraf and Indian Bollywood film stars. No one has claimed
responsibility, but this is Tehran's timing, just before the end of
the Ramazan fasting month on the eve of the Eid-al-Fidr, which ends
the month this weekend. The month is used by Islam to generate more
hatred of non-Islamic people. [ALJAZEERA]

Aljazeera-PTI report the bomb went off at 6:15 pm, killed three people
and so far has injured 18. Lalit Maheswari, Police Chief of Ajmer
said, "A big crowd had gathered outside the main shrine to break their
fast." A stampede resulted. Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria
stated, "It was a low intensity explosion. Preliminary information
suggests a lunch box appeared to be packed with something to explode."

Srinagar - In a parallel development Reuter's reports two militants
have stormed an Indian police station in Srinagar, Kashmir, using guns
and grenades. The fighting is continuing. I suspect with the end of
Ramadan this week the attacks in not only Kashmir will increase, by
Islamic militants supported by Tehran-Islamabad, but both governments
will also attempt to increase attacks inside India as part of Iran-
Pakistan's campaign of destabilization. [SWISSINFO]

Darfur - AKI reports, according to the United Nations both the
Sudanese government in Khartoum and armed opposition groups are
rushing arms and equipment to Darfur in the western Sudan in
anticipation of heavy fighting. This has now become one of the more
active regional theatres in World War III. Opposition forces are
receiving their support through Eritrea and Chad in the form of
assault rifles, rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns. Khartoum is
not only conducting more air attacks, but has also sent helicopters
and aircraft to three provincial capitals in Darfur: El Fashar, Nyala
and El Geneina. [AKI]

Istanbul - TDN-ANK report Syria President Bashar al-Asad is scheduled
to arrive in Turkey next week for meetings in Istanbul-Ankara with
Turkish officials including President Abdullah Gul. This is of
enormous significance since it signals regional cooperation between
not only Damascus-Ankara, but as an extension of Tehran's military
cooperation with both governments concerning not only the Kurdish
situation, but also the declining occupation of Iraq by the lost
alliance of London-Washington. Crossfirewar.com has stated before
Tehran-Damascus-Ankara will be dividing Iraq into spheres of influence
and with the complete blessing of the House of Saud. [TDN]

Camp Victory - In a further indication of London-Washington's defeat,
Al Jazeera reports Camp Victory, a Major Garrision for occupation
forces near the Baghdad International Airport, was hit by either a
mortar or rocket attack that killed two people and wounded 38. I
suspect attacks all over the country will increase next week, the
first week after Ramadan and that Tehran will use the new offensive to
test the accuracy of its new guided bombs. [ALJAZEERA]

Night Watch Information Service
http://www.crossfirewar.com

___

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3052371.ece

Turkey recalls ambassador after US vote on Armenian 'genocide'

By David Barchard in Ankara

Published: 12 October 2007

Turkey recalled its ambassador from Washington last night in repsonse
to a US Congressional decision to label the First World War-era
killings of Armenians as genocide.

Despite intense lobbying by Turkey and a last-gasp intervention by the
US President George Bush, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed
the bill on Wednesday by a 27-21 vote - in a move seen as an insult by
most Turks.

Turkey's Foreign ministry said the ambassador would return to Turkey
for a stay of "a week or 10 days". "We are not withdrawing our
ambassador," said a ministry spokesman Levent Bilman. "We have asked
him to come to Turkey for some consultations."

In a statement yesterday, the Turkish government condemned the vote:
"It is not possible to accept such an accusation of a crime which was
never committed by the Turkish nation".

"27 foolish Americans," ran the front page of the Turkish daily Vatan,
in reference to legislators who voted in favour of the bill. Hurriyet
called the resolution a "Bill of hatred".

President Abdullah Gül said: "Unfortunately, some politicians in the
US have once again sacrificed important matters to petty domestic
politics despite all calls to common sense."

Members of the left-wing Workers' Party laid a black wreath in front
of the US Embassy building in Ankara and drew a crescent-and-star on
its wall in protest at the resolution.

The vote was a body-blow to attempts by politicians and diplomats
behind the scenes in Washington and Ankara to put Turkish-American
relations back on a normal footing. The two countries have been on bad
terms since March 2003 when a group of rebels in the ruling AKP
(Justice and Development Party) joined with the opposition to thwart
government attempts to get authority for Turkey to support the
invasion of Iraq from the north. A few months later, parliament
reversed its decision but by then the US was no longer interested in
support from the Turks.

Over the past three years, hard-line conservatives in the US
administration have not forgiven the Turks for not doing what the US
expects of an ally. Turkish public opinion, horrified by the nearby
violence in Iraq, has been equally uncomplimentary with TV dramas and
novels attacking the US enjoying an enthusiastic reception.

Yet in both countries, many politicians have been searching for ways
to mend the damage, believing that the two countries need each other.
Both Mr Gül, while serving as Foreign minister, and the Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan have made several visits to Washington.

Apart from leading to a squeeze on US use of the Incirlik base in
Turkey and air and surface transit, the resolution could open the way
for a Turkish military incursion into Iraq to halt PKK attacks on
targets in south-east Turkey creating confrontation between Turkey and
the US.

Sixteen Turkish soldiers have died in the past week in south-east
Turkey as a result of PKK attacks. Several hundred more have been
killed since the US-led invasion of Iraq which was followed by a
revival of the PKK's fortunes.

Against this background, the resolution could be the straw which broke
the camel's back for Turkish-US relations. There are several strands
to the Turkish refusal to tolerate even a non-binding Congressional
resolution. They include national resentment at what is seen as a
climate of institutional prejudice against Turkey in Western
societies; anger at the assassination of more than 40 Turkish
diplomats by Armenians in the 1970s and 1980s; the expulsion of
800,000 to 1 million Azerbaijani Muslims from their homes in the
Caucasus in the 1990s by Armenian nationalist forces; and suspicion
that compensation claims may follow some day. Around half of Turkey's
population are the descendants of Muslims forced out of what are now
Christian lands and regard Western partiality for Armenians as
outrageous.

Attitudes are unlikely to soften. News of the vote coincided with
reports that two Turkish Armenians, Arat Dink and Serkis Seropian, had
been given one-year suspended jail sentences in in Istanbul for
"belittling Turkishness" in an Istanbul Armenian-language newspaper.

Mr Erdogan's riposte to Washington has been to ask parliament for
powers to send Turkish troops into Iraq. If recent PKK attacks
continue, pressure to act will be hard to resist, not least since a
Turkish-US confrontation would be popular in parts of the Muslim world
as well as at home. Even if an incursion into Iraq can be avoided,
prospects for getting the Turkish-US partnership back into working
order look more distant than ever, a fact which will hamper Western
chances of restoring stability in the Middle East.

___

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1191257286794&pagename=JPost%

Oct 11, 2007 23:32 | Updated Oct 12, 2007 1:13

Israel braces as US-Turkey crisis erupts

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER AND HERB KEINON
WASHINGTON


Turkey recalled its ambassador to the US Thursday as already-strained
relations frayed further following a congressional committee vote
recognizing the Armenian genocide.


Members of the left-wing Workers' Party wave Turkish flags as they
chant slogans during a protest against the US and its passing of a
bill describing World War I-era killings of Armenians as genocide,
Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday.
Photo: AP
The move could be indicative of further Turkish steps away from the US
and have a ripple effect on Turkish-Israeli relations. Both the US and
Israel view the secular Islamic state as a crucial Middle East ally
and strategic bulwark in their fight against radical forces in the
region.

Despite sharp objections from US President George W. Bush and other
administration members, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the
resolution by a 27-21 vote Wednesday. The non-binding resolution,
which refers to massacres of Armenians by Turks during the break-up of
the Ottoman Empire as "genocide," is expected to pass when considered
by the full House later this term.

Bush has warned that the resolution "would do great harm to our
relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror."

Government spokesmen were quick to condemn the committee vote, but
that did not keep Turkey from recalling its ambassador for
consultations.

Turkey, already showing growing anti-Americanism on its streets, had
warned it could reconsider its support for American war efforts, such
as allowing key supplies to travel through its territory, should the
genocide resolution pass.

Ahead of the vote, Turkey had urged Israel to use its influence in
Washington to keep the resolution shelved.

Turkish officials said that in recent days, Israel officials had
contacted key US Congressional leaders and discussed both Israel's
position on the issue - which is that an independent historical
commission should be set up to evaluate the matter - and the possible
impact of the legislation on Turkish-Israeli ties.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, who was in Israel earlier
this week, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Monday that not
only ties with the US, but also those with Israel, would suffer if the
resolution passed.

Israeli officials said that concerns of a crisis in Israeli-Turkish
relations over the issue were overblown, and that countries with
relations in a crisis did not host or invite each other's leaders.
When Babacan met President Shimon Peres on Sunday, he extended an
invitation to Peres from Turkish President Abdullah Gul to visit
Turkey.

"This is an internal US issue," one official said. "Our ties with
Turkey are very strong. There is no reason why this should change
anything."

Still, during his visit, Babacan said, "All of a sudden the perception
in Turkey right now is that the Jewish people - or the Jewish
organizations, let's say - and the Armenian diaspora, the Armenian
lobbies, are now hand-in-hand trying to defame Turkey, and trying to
condemn Turkey and the Turkish people. This is the unfortunate
perception right now in Turkey. So if something goes wrong in
Washington, DC, it inevitably will have some influence on relations
between Turkey and the US, plus the relations between Turkey and
Israel, as well."

His comments followed the controversy this August when the Anti-
Defamation League, under pressure from Armenian groups in the Boston
area, issued a statement declaring the WWI-era massacres a "genocide,"
though it didn't back the House resolution.

Alon Liel, a former director of Israel's foreign ministry and an
expert in Israel-Turkey relations, said the US legislation could
ultimately hurt ties between the US and Israel.

"We tried all these years not to get into it," he said. But because of
the ADL's new position, "Turkey will blame the Jewish organizations,
and then this could bounce back to us."

Many prominent Jewish organizations have cultivated close
relationships with Turkey and used their lobbying prowess to push
Turkey's position on Capitol Hill. Yet these groups have come under
increasing criticism from Armenian groups for not recognizing the
Armenian genocide despite emphasizing Holocaust remembrance.

In contrast to past years, when many Jewish organizations lobbied
against similar Armenian genocide resolutions, most Jewish groups
avoided taking a stance on the issue.

According to one Jewish leader, this was the result "of the growing
Armenian pressure on the Jewish community." He said the decision of
American Jewish organizations not to take a stance would "absolutely"
affect the relationship these groups had with Turkey and could spill
over into the Turkish-Israeli relationship.

"It's going to be highlighted in the Turkish press, and the anti-
Semitic press," he said. "You have a Turkish government that is
looking to go East rather than West, and this is going to help them go
East."

But another Jewish leader said the groups' stance on the Armenian
genocide resolution shouldn't have an affect on the relationship with
Turkey.

The matter, he said, was not a Jewish issue: "We are non-combatants in
this matter."

On Wednesday, the day the US panel voted in favor of the resolution,
the Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement praising Turkey's tiny
Jewish community for working against the resolution.

"The leaders, businessmen and associations of the Jewish community in
Turkey, being an integral part of our society, from the outset have
denied the unjust and erroneous content of the draft resolution before
the US Congress," the spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said
in a statement.

The statement continued: "They have also exerted great effort to
prevent this draft resolution from being brought before the Congress,
through meetings with the relevant people abroad and publishing
letters and declarations."

Referring to the Anti-Defamation League's statement in August that
reversed a long-standing policy and said the WWI massacres were
tantamount to genocide, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said,
"The Turkish Jewish community has also strongly denied the declaration
made by an American Jewish organization. Finally, the Turkish Jewish
community has recently published a statement in the American press
against the draft resolution. We highly appreciate this act as well."

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Hmmmmm, interestingamundo, peoplez !!!

HOOROO

Uncle Wally
http://newsblaze.com/story/20071011134409payn.nb/newsblaze/OPINIONS/O...

Crossfire War - War to Resume in Southeast Europe - Kosovo October 14

By Willard Payne
Night Watch: KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - The timetable for the resumption of
war in the former Yugoslavia has just become clearer. It is almost
certainly to break out again on the fourteenth of this month as the
Serbian paramilitary unit Tzar Lazar Guard stage a demonstration
Sunday at Kosovska Mitrovica in northern Kosovo, an area still mostly
Serbian. B92 reports before then, today, the guard will present a
petition to the Serbian Parliament in Belgrade demanding the Serbian
government declare a state of war when Albanians in Serbia's Kosovo
province declare independence

Hmmmmm, interestingamundo, peoplez !!!