Turkey recalls ambassador to U.S.

The government’s move in response to the genocide bill approved by a
House panel may foreshadow more forceful measures.

By Paul Richter
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

October 12, 2007

WASHINGTON – Turkey recalled its ambassador to Washington on Thursday
and denounced as "unacceptable" a congressional panel’s vote declaring
the early 20th century slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a
genocide.

Even as the Bush administration scrambled to try to stem the
diplomatic fallout, Turkish President Abdullah Gul castigated the
House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday for its 27-21 vote, saying
the decision "has no validity and is not worthy of the respect of the
Turkish people."

The withdrawal of Ambassador Nabi Sensoy, coming only hours after the
committee vote Wednesday, was a clear signal of Turkish disapproval
and is widely expected to be followed by retaliatory steps after weeks
of threats that House action would have serious consequences.

Turkey is likely to calibrate its response, Turkish officials and
independent analysts said. The government in Ankara could start with
relatively mild moves and ratchet them up if the full House votes to
adopt the nonbinding resolution later this year, as is expected. One
early step may be for the Turkish parliament to authorize its military
to cross into Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish extremists. Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will request that
authorization, which could come next week.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson to
express the government’s displeasure, and the head of Turkey’s navy
canceled a planned trip to Washington.

The Turkish military is set to cut back some routine contacts with
U.S. military officials, analysts said. More serious steps may include
reducing U.S. military access to crucial air and ground conduits
through Turkey into the war theaters in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey
also may decide to recall some of its approximately 1,000 troops in
Afghanistan and could bow out of U.S.-led efforts to counter Iran’s
nuclear program.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who voted against the resolution, called the
ambassador’s recall "ominous but predictable" and warned that it
"could foreshadow more serious diplomatic consequences."

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) predicted that the
U.S.-Turkish resolution would remain strong. She said she expected the
resolution to be brought to a House vote before the current session
adjourns Nov. 16.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Gul and Erdogan to try to
calm the diplomatic uproar.

The congressional debate stirs deep emotions in modern Turkey, as it
does among Armenian Americans, who have spearheaded the drive for the
resolution. Several Turkish television and radio stations covered the
U.S. debate for days before the committee vote.

As many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Turks beginning in
1915 as part of a campaign to drive them from eastern Turkey. Turks
acknowledge that hundreds of thousands of Armenians died, but contend
that it was not a systematic government effort but the result of World
War I and the disorder that came with the collapse of the Ottoman
Empire.

The genocide resolution has amplified the unhappiness of Turks, who
already were upset over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and what
they see as the Americans’ unwillingness to rein in the main Turkish
Kurd militant group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has
launched cross-border attacks from U.S.-controlled northern Iraq.
Turks have been especially angry in the last two weeks as deadly PKK
attacks have escalated. Many Turkish political leaders have given up
on hopes that the U.S. might restrain the PKK.

This week’s announcement of the resignation of retired Gen. Joseph W.
Ralston, an American envoy charged with working with Turkish
authorities to counter the PKK, was seen by Turks as more proof of the
ineffectiveness of U.S. diplomacy.

Mark Parris, U.S. ambassador to Turkey during the Clinton
administration, said a Turkish official warned him after the vote:
"We’re going to start reacting. You’ll see."

Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Turkish anger
at the genocide resolution combined with the escalation of PKK attacks
had "severely reduced" U.S. leverage against Turkish intervention in
northern Iraq.

Turkish disapproval of U.S. policies was prevalent before the
congressional committee vote. In a poll this year by the Pew Research
Center, only 9% of Turks viewed the U.S. favorably.

Even Milliyet, among the most pro-American newspapers in Turkey, ran a
front-page editorial Thursday calling for retaliation, noted Soner
Cagaptay, director of the Turkey program at the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy. "That tells you how serious these sentiments
are," Cagaptay said.

paul.richter@latimes.com

Special correspondent Yesim Borg in Istanbul, Turkey, and Times staff
writer Richard Simon in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: g-genocide12oct12,1,4039385.story?ctrack=1&cse t=true