U.S. Congressmen outraged by Turkey's threats

PanARMENIAN.Net - "We are outraged that the Turkish government would put the lives of our troops abroad at risk in the pursuit of its increasingly desperate campaign to deny the systematic slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians," said Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI).



Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) expressed outrage at recent warnings by the Turkish government that it will take actions threatening the security of U.S. troops in Iraq should Congress even consider the Armenian Genocide Resolution, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). In a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA), Reps. Pallone and Knollenberg noted that, "it is our understanding that senior Turkish government officials have warned that, in response to Congress even considering this resolution, they will close supply pipelines for our forces serving in Iraq. This shameless threat to interfere in U.S. military operations is absolutely unacceptable and deeply offensive."



"Sadly, the Turkish government is able to maintain its denial - against all evidence and the tide of international opinion - in large part due to the State Department's efforts to silence those who speak with moral clarity about the Armenian Genocide," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "It is a testament to the hypocrisy of the Administration's position that, on the one hand, its senior officials remained almost entirely silent on Article 301 prior to Hrant Dink's murder, while on the other hand loudly and repeatedly attacking even the consideration by the U.S. Congress of the Armenian Genocide Resolution."