Lounge - How about all this Turkish/Armenian Business?

[KilgoreTrout]

The Armenian [ genocide ] first entered my consciousness when I read KV's Bluebeard. Yesterday's news stories about the congressional resolution, and today's stories about Turkish backlash (denial of convoy access, recall of the Turkish ambassador for "consultations") have brought the issue to the fore.

The Turks seem to be acting awful guilty about this. Why is it so hard for them to admit that, yes, their ancestors perpetrated genocide against ethnic Armenians and that yes, it was wrong and we've learned from it? Steadfast denial only validates the application of the term, genocide, anyway.

Since I possess no knowledge about this issue, what's the big deal from both perspectives, why is the US congress now worrying about this, and who determines the difference between, say, ethnic cleansing and genocide?. In other words, why should we be concerned about this right now?