Joint Chiefs chairman tries to defuse Turkish anger

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has telephoned his Turkish counterpart to assure him that the U.S. military is aware of the potential for a crisis between the countries, an official said Friday.

Turkey is outraged over a resolution passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, which declares that the deportation of nearly 2 million Armenians from the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923 -- resulting in the deaths of 1.5 million people -- was "systematic" and "deliberate," amounting to "genocide."

The Bush administration has been trying to mend frayed relations with Turkey, which recalled its ambassador on Thursday, and to keep the resolution from being approved by the full House.

Mullen contacted Gen. Yasar Buyukanit and assured him that the Pentagon was working hard to warn Congress of the military implications if the Turks were to cut off U.S. access to the air base at Incirlik, Turkey, according to a senior U.S. military official.

Seventy percent of the American air cargo going into Iraq and 30 percent of the fuel for U.S. troops in Iraq flies in through Turkey, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Also straining U.S.-Turkish relations is the possibility of a Turkish raid into northern Iraq to attack Kurdish rebels there, which the U.S. opposes.

In the phone call, Mullen expressed condolences over the recent death of Turkish soldiers on the Iraqi border, the official said. Watch why the resolution stirs strong emotions »

Tensions have increased as the full House moves closer to voting on the House resolution. A vote could come as early as Friday.

On Thursday, Turkey recalled its ambassador for consultations. The recall is only for a limited period of time, said a U.S. State Department official who has talked to the ambassador.

A top Turkish official warned Thursday that consequences "won't be pleasant" if the full House approves the resolution.

"Yesterday some in Congress wanted to play hardball," said Egemen Bagis, foreign policy adviser to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "I can assure you Turkey knows how to play hardball."

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Tom Lantos, D-California, was unmoved by the Turkish government's protests.

"The Turkish government will not act against the United States because that would be against their own interests," he told CNN. "I'm convinced of this."

But Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposing the resolution, and said the backlash threatened by Turkey could disrupt "America's ability to redeploy U.S. military forces from Iraq," a top Democratic priority.

Turkey, a NATO member, has been a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.

U.S. commanders "believe clearly that access to airfields and roads and so on, in Turkey, would very much be put at risk if this resolution passes and the Turks react as strongly as we believe they will," Gates said.

Bagis said no French planes have flown through Turkish airspace since a French Parliament committee passed a similar resolution last year.

He said the response to the U.S. might not be the same, but warned if the full House passes the resolution that "we will do something, and I can promise you it won't be pleasant."

In a statement on his Web site, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said the resolution was "unacceptable" and "doesn't fit a major power like the United States."

In a letter to Bush, Gul warned "in the case that Armenian allegations are accepted, there will be serious problems in the relations between the two countries."

Turks strongly reject the genocide label, insisting there was no organized campaign against the Armenians and that many Turks also died in the chaos and violence of the period. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Barbara Starr and Zain Verjee contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

All About Armenia • Kurdistan • Turkey