ISRAELI KNESSET, IN NOD TO TURKEY, OPTS NOT TO DISCUSS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

The above is the headline of an article that appears in the March 15th edition of Haaretz Online. True to form, the Turkish media has given extensive coverage to this development, portraying it as somehow giving credence to the Turkish state's continued denial that the Armenian Genocide ever occured.

While it is no secret that Turkey and Israel have enjoyed a regional alliance of sorts in the political, economic and especially military fields, despite many in Turkey condemning last year's Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Knesset's shelving of a proposal for a mere parliamentary discussion of the events of 1915 would appear to be a new benchmark in placing one's political interests before any principled moral position.

Both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Foreign Minister had made several requests that the proposal be removed from the Knesset's calendar because they believed it would severely damage Israeli-Turkish diplomatic relations.

Knesset Member Haim Oron who initially proposed the parliamentary discussion had this to say before the vote to shelve the proposal took place, "This inquiry is something we owe the Armenians, primarily at a time when we are struggling to preserve the memory of our own people."

Despite the fact that many courageous and conscientious Israeli genocide scholars have called on the Israeli government to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide, such a development appears as elusive as United States recognition, despite the euphoria that surrounds the genocide resolution making the rounds in the U.S. Congress presently.

In fact both Unites States Secretary of State Rice and Defense Secretary Gates have sent letters to senior members of Congress warning that passage of the genocide resolution would damage American-Turkish relations and would be detrimental to the national interests of the United States. ( Read more of the Bush regime's attempts to sabotage the Armenian Genocide Resolution see: International Herald Tribune