Genocide bill backers willing to wait
Supporters of a U.S. bill recognizing the deaths 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as genocide said they were willing to wait to push the bill forward.
Backers of the bill sent a letter of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Thursday saying “we believe that a large majority of our colleagues want to support a resolution recognizing the genocide on the House floor and that they will do so, provided the times is more favorable,” The New York Times is quoting.
Pelosi is a long-time supporter of the bill. Her constituent base in California is home to one of the largest concentrations of Armenia diaspora in the United States.
The bill, drafted largely by California Democrats, was withdrawn amid concerns the bill would harm diplomatic relations between the United State and Turkey -- a key ally in the U.S.-led effort in Iraq.
The Turkish government launched its own lobbying initiative protesting the characterization of the 1915 episodes as genocide. The campaign against the bill focused more on questioning the need to rile Turkey when its value as a strategic ally was at its apex then the declaration of genocide. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International
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