This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/world/europe/erdogan-armenia-genocide.html

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Erdogan: U.S. Lawmakers Have No Right to Call Armenian Deaths Genocide Erdogan’s Dismissive Retort on Armenian Genocide Shows How Low U.S. Ties Have Sunk
(about 4 hours later)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey lashed out on Wednesday against the recognition and denunciation of the Armenian genocide by American lawmakers, deepening a rift between Turkey and the United States. When Pope Francis acknowledged the Armenian genocide four years ago, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey was so furious he recalled the ambassador to the Vatican. When German lawmakers made the same acknowledgment a year later, he not only recalled his Berlin envoy but warned that their decision would “seriously affect” German-Turkish ties.
“We do not recognize this step, this decision you have taken,” Mr. Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara, at a meeting of lawmakers from his party. “The countries who have stains of genocide, slavery, colonialism in their history have no right to give lessons to Turkey.” It is a measure of how low American-Turkish relations have already sunk in recent weeks that Mr. Erdogan’s reaction on Wednesday to the House’s decision to recognize the genocide was basically a contemptuous retort.
Mr. Erdogan was speaking a day after the House of Representatives designated as a genocide the 1915 killings of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, the precursor to the Republic of Turkey. In a speech in Ankara, Mr. Erdogan said American lawmakers had “no right to give lessons to Turkey.” While the American ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield, was summoned by the Turkish government to explain the House’s resolution, the Turkish ambassador to Washington was not recalled home. And Mr. Erdogan devoted most of his speech to the Turkish incursion in northern Syria.
The American ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield, was summoned by the Turkish government to explain the decision, which came on the same day that the House voted to impose harsh sanctions on Turkey over its military assault on the Kurds in northern Syria. Mr. Erdogan’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, described the sanctions bill as a “direct contradiction to the spirit of a strategic alliance.” “It was kind of muted in response,” said Sibel Oktay, an expert on Turkish politics at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “Erdogan seems to basically ignore it, or not take it seriously.”
For years, American lawmakers avoided officially describing the Armenian deaths as a genocide, wary of angering Turkey, a NATO ally that has never acknowledged the full extent of the massacres. Mr. Erdogan usually refers only to “deportations” and “events,” which he once said were “reasonable” for the period. For years, American lawmakers avoided officially describing as a genocide the 1915 killings of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, the precursor to the Republic of Turkey.
The House’s decision, by a 405-to-11 vote, to reverse its decades-old stance reflects the extent of bipartisan anger at Turkish foreign policy, particularly since Turkish forces began an offensive in northeastern Syria against Kurdish-led forces that had partnered with the United States military in fighting the Islamic State. American politicians have historically been wary of angering Turkey, a NATO ally that has never acknowledged the full extent of the massacres — and has emphatically denied that what happened was genocide. Mr. Erdogan usually refers only to “deportations” and “events,” which he once said were “reasonable” for the period.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers were already frustrated with Mr. Erdogan’s government, which is growing closer to Russia and has arrested several American citizens and employees in recent years, including a pastor. The House’s decision on Tuesday, by a 405-to-11 vote, to reverse its decades-old stance reflects how American-Turkish ties have spiraled down in recent years — as seen in Mr. Erdogan’s response.
The Turkish administration has in turn grown steadily angrier at American support for Syrian Kurdish fighters whom it regards as a threat to Turkey’s national security. Mr. Erdogan is also furious that the United States refuses to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania who the Turkish leader says is behind a failed coup attempt in 2016. Relations were already strained by Turkey’s decision to buy an antimissile system from Russia instead of the United States; the incarceration of an American pastor in Turkey; and the jailing of a Turkish banker in America.
The United States also has refused to deport Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania whom Mr. Erdogan has accused of plotting a coup attempt in 2016.
And then, earlier this month, came the Turkish offensive in northeast Syria, against Kurdish-led forces that had partnered with the United States military in fighting the Islamic State. When President Trump warned Mr. Erdogan in a letter that the United States would destroy the Turkish economy if Mr. Erdogan’s forces did not behave in “the right and humane way” in Syria, the Turkish leader discarded the letter — some Turkish news reports suggested he threw it in the trash — and said “we will not forget this lack of respect.”
Had the House’s recognition of the Armenian genocide occurred at a calmer time, “then it would have been a watershed moment,” said Ms. Oktay. “But given what else has been happening, you can just call it the cherry on top. In that sense, it’s not that big of a deal.”
American-Turkish relations have been further strained by the recent indictment in New York of a Turkish state-owned bank that American prosecutors accuse of helping Iran to circumvent United States sanctions. Mr. Erdogan is himself accused in the court documents of involvement in the scheme.American-Turkish relations have been further strained by the recent indictment in New York of a Turkish state-owned bank that American prosecutors accuse of helping Iran to circumvent United States sanctions. Mr. Erdogan is himself accused in the court documents of involvement in the scheme.
In his speech on Wednesday, Mr. Erdogan suggested that the House vote was a political decision rather than the outcome of a sincerely held belief. “In a sense, it was profiteering,” he said. Responding to the House’s decision, Mr. Erdogan said: “We do not recognize this step, this decision you have taken.”
The Turkish president also hinted that he was planning an operation targeting the leader of the Syrian Kurdish militia that worked with the United States against the Islamic State, Mazlum Kobani. “The countries who have stains of genocide, slavery, colonialism in their history have no right to give lessons to Turkey,” Mr. Erdogan added.
Mr. Erdogan’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, described a separate decision by the House to impose harsh sanctions on Turkey as a “direct contradiction to the spirit of a strategic alliance.”
While Mr. Erdogan regarded the House’s decision as an affront, it may have helped him politically, bolstering the Turkish leader’s strategy of presenting himself to voters as Turkey’s only effective bulwark against foreign attacks.
“He can use the specifically anti-American nationalist sentiment — on an issue that still unites many Turkish citizens — to rally support when it suits him,” said Lisel Hintz, a Turkey expert at Johns Hopkins University.
But he nevertheless stopped short of the kind of language he has used against hostile foreign leaders in the past, such as in 2017, when he described several European politicians as Nazis.
On Wednesday, Mr. Erdogan framed the House’s move as a political decision rather than the outcome of a sincerely held belief.
“In a sense, it was profiteering,” he said.
Mr. Erdogan’s reaction may partly reflect his newfound position of relative strength, Ms. Oktay said.
“He made a major move in Syria and he won — and he is still riding on that, quote unquote, victory,” Ms. Oktay added.
On Wednesday, the Turkish president also hinted that he was planning an operation targeting the leader of the Syrian Kurdish militia that had worked with the United States against the Islamic State, Mazlum Kobani.
“Some countries eliminate terrorists whom they consider as a threat to their national security, wherever they are,” Mr. Erdogan said. “Therefore this means those countries accept that Turkey has the same right. This includes the terrorists they shake hands with and praised.”“Some countries eliminate terrorists whom they consider as a threat to their national security, wherever they are,” Mr. Erdogan said. “Therefore this means those countries accept that Turkey has the same right. This includes the terrorists they shake hands with and praised.”
Since 2014, Mr. Erdogan has watched with loathing as Mr. Kobani’s militia harnessed the chaos of the Syrian conflict to carve out an autonomous area along the Turkish-Syrian border, under the protection of the United States.Since 2014, Mr. Erdogan has watched with loathing as Mr. Kobani’s militia harnessed the chaos of the Syrian conflict to carve out an autonomous area along the Turkish-Syrian border, under the protection of the United States.
Turkish officials consider the militia a terrorist organization because it is an offshoot of a guerrilla movement that has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.Turkish officials consider the militia a terrorist organization because it is an offshoot of a guerrilla movement that has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.
The withdrawal of American troops from the border early this month gave Turkey the opportunity to invade Kurdish-held territory in northern Syria. That forced the Kurdish leadership to turn to the Syrian government and its Russian backers for support, and to retreat from the border.The withdrawal of American troops from the border early this month gave Turkey the opportunity to invade Kurdish-held territory in northern Syria. That forced the Kurdish leadership to turn to the Syrian government and its Russian backers for support, and to retreat from the border.
After an agreement between Turkey and Russia, a buffer zone has since been established along the border, patrolled by Turkish, Russian and Syrian government troops.After an agreement between Turkey and Russia, a buffer zone has since been established along the border, patrolled by Turkish, Russian and Syrian government troops.