News Sources: Turkey and the Armenian Genocide Debate

A debate over killings that took place in the World War I era threatens to damage current relations between the U.S. and Turkey. Turkey's top general has warned that ties with the U.S. would be irreversibly damaged if Congress passes a resolution declaring the killing of Armenians to have been genocide. After a House committee approved such a resolution, Turkey - a major cargo hub for U.S. and coalition military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan - recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations last week and said it might curtail its logistical support of the U.S. military. Twenty-three other countries have already acknowledged the genocide. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Jennifer Abbassi - Associate Professor of Political Science, Randolph College - Abbassi is an expert on international law and human rights, and is co-editor of an upcoming international law anthology and has done work on the Milosevic trial.

William Felice - Professor of Political Science, Eckerd College - Human rights activist Felice was the representative to the U.N. for the International League for the Rights of Peoples 1986-1992. His research and scholarship focuses on normative issues of rights and justice within our global society. He is the author of Taking Suffering Seriously and The Global New Deal: Economic and Social Human Rights in World Politics.

David Lesch - Professor of History, Trinity University - Lesch is an expert on Middle East and American foreign policy and the author of 1979: The Year that Shaped the Modern Middle East. He is a consultant to the U.S. State Department, has traveled across the Middle East to Syria, Jordan and Turkey, and visits the region four or five times a year.