Oct 15, 2007 8:34 AM

The top Democrat in the US House of Representatives said she intends to press ahead on a resolution calling the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide, despite White House concerns it will damage relations with Turkey, a key supporter of the Iraq war.

"I said if it passed the committee that we would bring it to the floor," US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview on ABC television's This Week.

Pelosi, of California, said her determination to bring the measure to a vote has not wavered even though President George W Bush and his Cabinet have warned the measure could interfere with Turkey's support for US troops in Iraq.

"Some of the things that are harmful to our troops relate to values," Pelosi said.

"I think that our troops are well-served when we declare who we are as a country and increase the respect that people have for us as a nation."

On Wednesday, a congressional committee approved the nonbinding resolution, which was sponsored by a California lawmaker whose district has a large Armenian-American constituency.

The House of Representatives is due to vote on the strictly symbolic measure by mid-November.

It is unclear if the Senate will consider a companion bill.

Republicans called on Pelosi on Sunday to block the measure from coming to a vote.

"Bringing this bill to the floor may be the most irresponsible thing I've seen this new Congress do this year," House Minority Leader Jim Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said on Fox News Sunday.

The issue is highly sensitive in Turkey, where it is a crime to describe those events as genocide.

Turkey recalled its ambassador to the United States after the committee vote.

Turkey's military chief said on Sunday that ties between the United States and Turkey would never be the same again if Congress approves the resolution.

Pelosi said she has not been contacted directly about the resolution by Bush, who voiced his concerns publicly last week.

"This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass killings, and its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror," Bush said at the White House.

The administration fears the resolution could undermine US influence as it urges Turkey to refrain from any major military operations in Northern Iraq.

The Turkish government is planning to seek parliamentary approval for military operations against a militant group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, based in the mountains of northern Iraq.

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1318360/1403594