Flacking Turkey
Not to overstate the obvious, but it really is absolutely appalling that Dick Gephardt has signed on to lobby (subscr req) on behalf of the Turkish government in its ongoing attempts to prevent the United States from recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Not to single out Gephardt or anything: Crowley's article reports that "The Turks also pay $50,000 monthly to the Glover Park Group, a powerhouse Democratic firm stocked with connected former Clinton White House aides Joe Lockhart and Joel Johnson, for p.r. services." But Gephardt's flackery is especially egregious given that, as the Armenian National Committee of America explains:
As a member of the House, Gephardt cosponsored legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide, as recently as H.Res.193 in 2003, and dating all the way back to H.J.Res.192, more than 20 years ago, during the 99th Congress. In 1998, he offered remarks at the ANCA Armenian Genocide Observance on Capitol Hill.
It's hard to imagine a more despicable position to take. Possibly Gephardt believes that passing resolutions recognizing the genocide will upset foreign relations with Turkey, possibly complicating the situation with the Kurds in Iraq. But against that is the problem that, as Der Spiegel explained in 2005, Turkey's recalcitrance on the genocide is one factor reducing the likelihood of its eventual assention into the EU. More recently, European leaders, including Angela Merkel, who oppose full EU membership for Turkey have brought legislation recognizing the genocide forward for debate in their own legislatures, partly to create a point of contention with Turkey. In the face of these roadblocks, Turkish public support for EU membership has itself been falling over the past few years, as it has been across Europe.
If anything, denial of the Armenian catastrophe is working against the western-orientation of Turkey, and also against the further bridging of the Christian-Muslim world that its EU-oriented reforms represent. It's also a historical abomination, one, ironically, that was soundly rejected by modern Turkey's secular founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, only to be revived by Turkey's modern leadership. There's no moral or long-run geopolitical gain to supporting Turkey's quest to deny its past, the sort of fight countries nearly always lose in the long run anyway. So how exactly does Dick Gephardt sleep at night?
As a member of the House, Gephardt cosponsored legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide, as recently as H.Res.193 in 2003, and dating all the way back to H.J.Res.192, more than 20 years ago, during the 99th Congress. In 1998, he offered remarks at the ANCA Armenian Genocide Observance on Capitol Hill.
It's hard to imagine a more despicable position to take. Possibly Gephardt believes that passing resolutions recognizing the genocide will upset foreign relations with Turkey, possibly complicating the situation with the Kurds in Iraq. But against that is the problem that, as Der Spiegel explained in 2005, Turkey's recalcitrance on the genocide is one factor reducing the likelihood of its eventual assention into the EU. More recently, European leaders, including Angela Merkel, who oppose full EU membership for Turkey have brought legislation recognizing the genocide forward for debate in their own legislatures, partly to create a point of contention with Turkey. In the face of these roadblocks, Turkish public support for EU membership has itself been falling over the past few years, as it has been across Europe.
If anything, denial of the Armenian catastrophe is working against the western-orientation of Turkey, and also against the further bridging of the Christian-Muslim world that its EU-oriented reforms represent. It's also a historical abomination, one, ironically, that was soundly rejected by modern Turkey's secular founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, only to be revived by Turkey's modern leadership. There's no moral or long-run geopolitical gain to supporting Turkey's quest to deny its past, the sort of fight countries nearly always lose in the long run anyway. So how exactly does Dick Gephardt sleep at night?
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