House approves sweeping Turkey sanctions bill, recognizes Armenian genocide

[OriZ 3,157]

Can't remember the last time I agreed with something the House did. 

 

 

WASHINGTON – In a remarkable rebuke of a NATO ally, the House on Tuesday approved a biting sanctions bill that could cripple Turkey's economy and would punish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally by requiring an assessment of his net worth amid questions about his finances in Turkey.

Lawmakers also passed a deeply contentious measure to commemorate the Armenian genocide, a historic move that will almost certainly exacerbate U.S.-Turkey tensions. The genocide measure officially recognizes the systematic killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.

"Members of my own family were among those murdered, and my parents fled with my grandparents to America," said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. "What all of the persecuted had in common was that they were Christians."

For years, Turkey’s government had successfully lobbied to kill such congressional resolutions, pressuring presidents and lawmakers alike with sophisticated influence campaigns. The Turks have argued the Armenians who died during that era were victims of civil war and unrest, not genocide. On Tuesday, it passed by an overwhelming vote of 405-to-11, with three lawmakers voting "present." 

 

It's about time.

 

[90DayFinancier 910]

12 minutes ago, OriZ said:

Can't remember the last time I agreed with something the House did. 

 

 

WASHINGTON – In a remarkable rebuke of a NATO ally, the House on Tuesday approved a biting sanctions bill that could cripple Turkey's economy and would punish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally by requiring an assessment of his net worth amid questions about his finances in Turkey.

Lawmakers also passed a deeply contentious measure to commemorate the Armenian genocide, a historic move that will almost certainly exacerbate U.S.-Turkey tensions. The genocide measure officially recognizes the systematic killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.

"Members of my own family were among those murdered, and my parents fled with my grandparents to America," said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. "What all of the persecuted had in common was that they were Christians."

For years, Turkey’s government had successfully lobbied to kill such congressional resolutions, pressuring presidents and lawmakers alike with sophisticated influence campaigns. The Turks have argued the Armenians who died during that era were victims of civil war and unrest, not genocide. On Tuesday, it passed by an overwhelming vote of 405-to-11, with three lawmakers voting "present." 

 

It's about time.

 

This is remarkable. Do you think Erdogan's alignment with Putin is changing the calculus in Washington?  What do you feel about long term relationship between Turkey and the rest of NATO?  

[laylalex 7,245]

I grew up in Burbank, the city right next door to Glendale, which has the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia. The Armenian genocide is very personal to my friends and neighbors, and I am proud of our House for supporting this. It's about time.

[Dashinka 23,199]

8 hours ago, 90DayFinancier said:

This is remarkable. Do you think Erdogan's alignment with Putin is changing the calculus in Washington?  What do you feel about long term relationship between Turkey and the rest of NATO?  

Turkey does not belong in NATO.  That being said, I think Europe, the US and Russia all want to maintain naval access to the Black Sea so Turkey is in a geographical key position.  I am fine with what the House did here, the US and NATO should start thinking of getting their assets out of Turkey.

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

8 hours ago, laylalex said:

I grew up in Burbank, the city right next door to Glendale, which has the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia. The Armenian genocide is very personal to my friends and neighbors, and I am proud of our House for supporting this. It's about time.

Glendale!!!!!! Actually there are more Armenians in Glendale and Los Angeles than there are in the capital of Armenia. The city of Glendale is 90% ran by Armenians. I have friends who work for the city of Glendale whose staff are almost all Armenians.  I totally agree with @OriZ that there is not much I agree with this House passing but this is one of them. I have met many Armenians who are the sons and daughters of people who survived the genocide. They still hold a grudge in regards to what the Turks did and the main reason why is that they have never ever owned up to it at all. 

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

9 hours ago, 90DayFinancier said:

This is remarkable. Do you think Erdogan's alignment with Putin is changing the calculus in Washington?  What do you feel about long term relationship between Turkey and the rest of NATO?  

Honestly I think Turkey will leave or be kicked out of NATO within 10 years. They have been doing many things over the last 5-10 years that is making Europeans furious such as:

During the migrant surge Edrogan wanted money from the EU to help supposedly care for the migrants, and when he didn't get it then he opened up the floodgates so to speak. The EU quickly came to a deal and started giving him money to "care for the migrants".

During so called fake coup in Turkey he shut off the power to Incirlik AB for a few days which was not widely known at the time, but I have a buddy of mine who was working on the base at the time who told me about it. 

Turkey specifically Erdogan and his family were the main facilitators for Daesh (ISIS) getting oil of Syria through Turkey to load up on ships owned by Erdogan's son. They intern gave ISIS money and weapons. Which if you notice Daesh did not start withering away until they shut off the flood of people travelling to join. 

 

Not to mention there have been instances here in the USA of Erdogan's guards beating protestors here in the USA. The police actually had to get involved to stop the guards from beating them up

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,315]

9 hours ago, laylalex said:

I grew up in Burbank, the city right next door to Glendale, which has the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia. The Armenian genocide is very personal to my friends and neighbors, and I am proud of our House for supporting this. It's about time.

I think Jed Clampett  lived in Burbank 

[90DayFinancier 910]

2 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

Turkey does not belong in NATO.  That being said, I think Europe, the US and Russia all want to maintain naval access to the Black Sea so Turkey is in a geographical key position.  I am fine with what the House did here, the US and NATO should start thinking of getting their assets out of Turkey.

Turkey is apart of NATO.

[90DayFinancier 910]

40 minutes ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

Honestly I think Turkey will leave or be kicked out of NATO within 10 years. They have been doing many things over the last 5-10 years that is making Europeans furious such as:

During the migrant surge Edrogan wanted money from the EU to help supposedly care for the migrants, and when he didn't get it then he opened up the floodgates so to speak. The EU quickly came to a deal and started giving him money to "care for the migrants".

During so called fake coup in Turkey he shut off the power to Incirlik AB for a few days which was not widely known at the time, but I have a buddy of mine who was working on the base at the time who told me about it. 

Turkey specifically Erdogan and his family were the main facilitators for Daesh (ISIS) getting oil of Syria through Turkey to load up on ships owned by Erdogan's son. They intern gave ISIS money and weapons. Which if you notice Daesh did not start withering away until they shut off the flood of people travelling to join. 

 

Not to mention there have been instances here in the USA of Erdogan's guards beating protestors here in the USA. The police actually had to get involved to stop the guards from beating them up

Erdogan's no good for Turkey 

[Dashinka 23,199]

10 minutes ago, 90DayFinancier said:

Turkey is apart of NATO.

Hmm, I don't think I said Turkey was not a part of NATO.  What I said was that Turkey did not belong in NATO in my opinion.

9 minutes ago, 90DayFinancier said:

Erdogan's no good for Turkey 

Well, didn't a majority of Turks vote for him?  Gotta love majority rule.

[90DayFinancier 910]

2 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

Hmm, I don't think I said Turkey was not a part of NATO.  What I said was that Turkey did not belong in NATO in my opinion.

Well, didn't a majority of Turks vote for him?  Gotta love majority rule.

I stand corrected. 

I didn't say he didn't win the election, I said he was no good for Turkey. 

[Ban Hammer 12,829]

32 minutes ago, 90DayFinancier said:

Turkey is apart of NATO.

no, it is in nato.

[Boris Farage 353]

NATO shouldn't be in NATO. It's obsolete and a waste of tax dollars.

[Dashinka 23,199]

24 minutes ago, 90DayFinancier said:

I stand corrected. 

I didn't say he didn't win the election, I said he was no good for Turkey. 

You missed my point regarding majority rule.  Of course that will be good in this country. 

[90DayFinancier 910]

10 hours ago, Boris Farage said:

NATO shouldn't be in NATO. It's obsolete and a waste of tax dollars.

Should just let Puttie do whatever he please....