February 21, 2009 - 12:07 AMT
ANCA alerts Congress to emerging Turkey-Sudan axis of genocide
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) alerted Members of Congress this week to the human costs of the emerging axis of genocide forming between the governments of Turkey and Sudan, warning that Ankara is playing an increasingly dangerous role in blocking decisive international action to end the genocide in Darfur.

The genocidal Ankara and Khartoum regimes have grown markedly closer over the past two years, driven by Turkey's increasingly brazen efforts to undermine the international community's efforts to isolate Sudan's genocidal regime. The main three areas of cooperation between the two countries have been:

1) Turkey's sale of lethal weaponry directly to Sudan.

2) Turkish diplomatic support for the Sudanese government's genocide denials.

3) Turkey's use of its UN Security Council seat to block anti-genocide efforts.

In recent weeks, Turkey came under considerable international scrutiny for hosting Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha, who, during a meeting with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, asked Turkey to use its position on the UN Security Council to block any possible attempts to arrest Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on charges of genocide. During his visit, Taha and his delegation also met with Turkish Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan and signed a cooperation protocol between their two parliaments, expanding the number of visits and improving ties between the legislative bodies.