Turkey accused U.S. lawmakers of "irresponsibility"

PanARMENIAN.Net - "The irresponsible resolution, voted by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is likely to endanger bilateral relations. We still hope that the House of Representatives will have enough good sense not to take this resolution further," said a statement issued by the Turkish government.



To do so, it added, would jeopardize a strategic partnership with an ally and friend and would be an "irresponsible attitude."



"It is unacceptable that the Turkish nation should be accused of a crime that it never committed in its history. Many historians assessed the Ottoman government's decision to deport Armenians as a security measure," it said.



"The House of Representatives is not charged with a task to distort and rewrite history. Meanwhile, our proposal on formation of a joint commission of historians remains valid. In response to our sincere proposal Armenia, at first secretly and then openly, supported the draft resolution," the statement said.



The document said that there is hope for "rational conduct of the House members" and that the historical responsibility is laid on Speaker Nancy Pelosi.



The Turkish government said it will do its utmost to block passage of the resolution in the House of Representatives, APA reports.



October 10, with a vote of 27 to 21, the influential panel of the U.S. House of Representatives took a major step toward ending U.S. complicity in Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide, adopting H.Res.106, the Armenian Genocide Resolution, despite an intense campaign of threats and intimidation by the Turkish government and its lobbyists in Washington.