Victory for Armenians: Congress has passed resolution to recognize Armenian Holocaust

Despite Dubya's disgraceful attempts to discourage recognition of this important tragedy in history, Congress has done the right thing and has made a positive first step towards recognizing Turkey's mass murder of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915:

A U.S. House committee on Wednesday defied President George W. Bush by passing a resolution calling the 1915 massacre of Armenians genocide, a step the White House warns could damage U.S. goals in the Middle East.

The measure, passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee by a 27-21 margin, will be sent to the House floor, where Democratic leaders say there will be a vote within weeks.

Turkey, a key NATO ally that has supported U.S. efforts in Iraq, has strongly opposed the measure and warned it could damage relations between the two countries.

At issue is the killing of as many as 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of First World War. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, says the toll has been inflated and insists that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest. It has threatened sanctions against countries that use the term genocide.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul called the measure's passage "unacceptable," said Reuters.

"Unfortunately some politicians in the United States of America have closed their ears to calls to be reasonable and once again sought to sacrifice big problems for small domestic political games," state news agency Anatolian quoted Gul as saying.

That disgraceful man can keep going with his obscenities that show nothing more than hatred for innocent people. The Turkish president, the first one from a Muslim background in many years, has only shown the true colors of people of his standing in Turkey, and why, contrary to the stupidity they blurt out about sanctions, they're the ones who're really asking for sanctions imposed by other countries, and not the other way around. I think a boycott of Turkey is in order here.

Update: and while we're on the subject of Dubya, check out the following comment someone at Dhimmi Watch found that Dubya made in 2000 (via Pedestrian Infidel).

Update 2: So Turkey's recalled its US ambassador (also via Dhimmi Watch). That's fine. Nobody needs villains who won't admit their wrongs. Hugh Fitzgerald writes them a note.