Turkey: Saturn - Ketu conjunction impact

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

The problems from the Saturn-Ketu conjunction are appearing here and

there. Now we get news from Turkey about tension involving their

long standing relationship with the USA.

 

The impact is clear in the 24° 29' Cancer rising chart for Turkey

(12:08PM, 19 April 1920, Ankara, Turkey).

 

Best wishes,

 

Thor

 

Turkey recalls ambassador over genocide resolutionStory

 

Highlights

Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy will head home after U.S. House panel

vote

Vote calls killing of Armenians during World War I genocide

Condoleezza Rice set to call Turkish leaders to express " deep

disappointment "

Turkey is a key U.S.-Mideast ally and conduit for supplies into Iraq

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the United

States in response to a House resolution that would call the World

War I massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces genocide, the Turkish

Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

 

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the measure 27-21

Wednesday, even though President Bush and key administration figures

lobbied hard against it. The full House is expected to vote on it,

possibly Friday.

 

A top Turkish official warned Thursday that consequences " won't be

pleasant " if the full House approves the resolution.

 

" Yesterday some in Congress wanted to play hardball, " said Egemen

Bagis, foreign policy adviser to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip

Erdogan. " I can assure you Turkey knows how to play hardball. "

 

Asked about Ambassador Nabi Sensoy's recall after the news broke, a

State Department spokesman said he could not confirm it. " People are

sometimes called back for consultation; sometimes they're called

back for other reasons, " said spokesman Tom Casey.

 

" If they wanted to bring their ambassador back for consultations or

do something else, that is their decision. I certainly think that it

will not do anything to limit our efforts to continue to reach out

to Turkish officials, to explain our views, to engage them on this

issue and again to make clear that we intend to work on this with

Congress. "

 

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Casey and White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said they both would

like to see the resolution withdrawn without a vote by the full

House. However, Casey said, " I don't think anyone is expecting that

to happen at this point. "

 

Democratic leaders said earlier if the Foreign Affairs Committee

passed the resolution, they intended to bring it to the House

floor. Watch why the resolution stirs strong emotions »

 

The House was not in session Thursday because of the funeral of Rep.

Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, who died Saturday. Members may vote on the

resolution Friday.

 

Turkey, a NATO member, has been a key U.S. ally in the Middle East

and a conduit for sending supplies into Iraq.

 

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that good relations

with Turkey are vital because 70 percent of the air cargo intended

for U.S. forces in Iraq and 30 percent of the fuel consumed by those

forces fly through Turkey.

 

U.S. commanders " believe clearly that access to airfields and roads

and so on in Turkey would very much be put at risk if this

resolution passes and the Turks react as strongly as we believe they

will, " Gates said.

 

Bagis said no French planes have flown through Turkish airspace

since a French Parliament committee passed a similar resolution last

year.

 

He said the response to the U.S. might not be the same, but warned

if the full House passes it that " we will do something, and I can

promise you it won't be pleasant. "

 

Bagis spoke to reporters while in Washington to attend a meeting of

the Carnegie Endowment.

 

In a statement on his Web site, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said

the resolution was " unacceptable " and " doesn't fit a major power

like the United States. "

 

In a letter to Bush, Gul warned that " in the case that Armenian

allegations are accepted, there will be serious problems in the

relations between the two countries. "

 

" We still hope that common sense will prevail and that the House of

Representatives will not move this resolution any further, " the

Turkish Foreign Ministry Web site said.

 

The vote was also strongly criticized by Turkish newspapers, The

Associated Press reported. " Bill of Hatred, " said Hurriyet's front

page, while Vatan's headline read " 27 Foolish Americans. "

 

Casey said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned to speak with

the Turkish foreign minister about the issue later Thursday and had

requested calls with Erdogan and Gul.

 

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack issued a statement

expressing " regret " for the committee's action, warning the

resolution " may do grave harm to U.S.-Turkish relations and to U.S.

interests in Europe and the Middle East. "

 

The nonbinding House resolution said the deportation of nearly 2

million Armenians from the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923,

resulting in the deaths of 1.5 million of them, amounted

to " genocide. "

 

Turks strongly reject the genocide label, insisting there was no

organized campaign against the Armenians and that many Turks also

died in the chaos and violence of the period.

 

Sensoy said the resolution's passage would be a " very injurious move

to the psyche of the Turkish people. "

 

He predicted a backlash in the country, saying there would be

setbacks on several fronts: Turkish-American relations, Turkish-

Armenian relations and the normalization of relations between the

nations of Turkey and Armenia.

 

The resolution's sponsor, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, said the

measure already had 226 co-sponsors, more than enough votes to

pass " and the most support an Armenian genocide resolution has ever

received. "

 

A similar resolution passed the committee by a 40-7 vote two years

ago, but it never reached the full House floor.

 

 

The resolution arrives at a particularly sensitive point in U.S.-

Turkish relations. The United States has urged Turkey not to send

its troops over the border into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish

separatist rebels, who have launched some cross-border attacks

against Turkish targets.

 

Observers of U.S.-Turkish relations have argued the House resolution

could make Turkey less inclined to use restraint in dealing with its

longstanding problems with the Kurdistan Workers