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The measure is likely to touch raw nerves in Turkey, which rejects the charge that genocide was at the root of the deaths. The Bush administration has warned that even congressional debate on the matter could damage relations with Turkey, a vital Muslim ally and member of NATO.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a co-sponsor, acknowledged that the resolution might harm U.S.-Turkish relations in the short term. Nevertheless, he said, “I’m optimistic that the relationship will go on. We will move beyond this.” [Read More]

Mr. Dink believed that the mass killings of Armenians during and after World War I constituted genocide, and he angered the extreme right with his position. About a year ago, he stood trial under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which criminalizes insults to Turkey, its government or the national character. Now that law has criminalized Turkey. Now those so-called Turkish nationalists are responsible for showing the world a country that is immoderate, uncivilized and intolerant. Those marching in Istanbul feel even more shamed over the mindset of those so-called nationalists in the name of protecting Turkey’s interests. The scenes of aggressive verbal and nearly physical attacks during the trial of Mr. Dink and other prominent Turkish journalists will be remembered in history as the dark face of Turkey. [Read More]

Dink, who ran Turkey’s only Armenian-language newspaper, clashed with Turkish officials over the government’s denial of the Armenian genocide, the killing of 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey starting in 1915. The government position is that the deaths were part of a civil conflict in which Muslim Turks and Christian Armenians were killed.

— Dec. 19, 2006: Writer Ipek Calislar acquitted of insulting Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in a biography in which she said Ataturk dressed as a woman to escape an assassination attempt.

— Nov. 1, 2006: Archaeologist Ilmiye Cig acquitted of inciting religious hatred by claiming that Islamic-style head scarves were first used more than 5,000 years ago by priestesses initiating young men into sex.

— Sept. 21, 2006: Author Elif Safak acquitted of “insulting Turkishness” for her fictional characters’ statements about the killings of Armenians. [Read More]

Few people can inspire a whole nation in their lifetime, fewer still with their death. Hrant Dink did both. He was a prominent journalist, the editor of the Armenian weekly Agos, an outspoken intellectual, a peace activist, a true citizen of Istanbul and a dear friend. When the news of his assassination broke, thousands poured into the streets, chanting, “We are all Hrant Dink, we are all Armenian!” People slept in front of his office, guarding the spot where he’d fallen with candles and flowers. [Read More]

The shift in Congress also dims the likelihood that the Bush administration can break a deadlock over the president’ss nominee for ambassador to Armenia, Richard Hoagland. Senate Democrats have blocked Hoagland’s nomination because of his refusal to call the killings a genocide.

The matters before Congress highlight how the deaths of the 1.5 million Armenians almost a century ago remain a sensitive international issue today. The Bush administration has warned that even congressional debate on the genocide question could damage relations with Turkey, a moderate Muslim nation that is a NATO member and an important strategic ally. [Read more]