ROGERS, United States (AFP) — The White House Monday strongly discouraged Congress from approving, or even considering, a resolution calling WWI mass killings of Armenians "genocide" which could bring tough reprisals from Turkey.
"This is an important time for US-Turkish relations, and we would strongly encourage the speaker not to bring this to a vote, and should it come to a vote, we will strongly encourage members not to support it," spokesman Tony Fratto said.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said she planned to put the bill before the full House of Representatives. The House foreign affairs committee last week branded the Ottoman Empire's World War I massacre of Armenians a genocide, angering Ankara.
Pelosi said Bush never had phoned her on the measure.
"I don't know anything about plans for a phone call. But there should be no question of the president's views on this issue and the damage that this resolution can do to our US foreign policy interests," added Fratto, aboard the president's jet.
Armenians say at least 1.5 million of their people were killed from 1915 to 1917 under what they describe as an campaign of deportation and murder by the Ottoman Empire. Turkey bitterly disputes the number of dead and the characterization of the killings as a genocide.
Ankara's angry reaction has fueled fears within the US administration that it could lose access to a military base in Turkey, a NATO ally, which provides a crucial staging ground for US supplies headed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
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