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US bill on Armenia moves forward

A German soldier took photos of Armenian deportees at the time
A bill recognising the killing of Armenians in Ottoman times as genocide has cleared its first hurdle in the US Congress despite Turkish warnings.
It passed through the House Foreign Affairs Committee by 27 votes to 21 - the first step towards holding a vote in the House of Representatives.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul reacted swiftly to the result, saying that the move was "unacceptable".

President George W Bush had urged US legislators not to pass it.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council told the BBC that the White House was "very disappointed" by the outcome of the vote.

Turkey is a regional operational hub for the US military, which uses its airspace to supply US forces in Iraq.

'Sobering'

The result means that only a change of heart by the opposition Democrats, who control Congress, can now stop a full vote.

Divisions within the Foreign Affairs Committee crossed party lines with eight Democrats voting against the measure and eight Republicans voting for it.

Tom Lantos, the committee's chairman, had opened the debate by admitting the resolution posed a "sobering" choice.

"We have to weigh the desire to express our solidarity with the Armenian people... against the risk that it could cause young men and women in the uniform of the United States armed services to pay an even heavier price than they are currently paying," he said.

Mr Lantos, himself a survivor of the Jewish Holocaust, said he would introduce a resolution praising US-Turkish friendship next week, according to AFP news agency.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to take up their version of the resolution in the future.

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