TURKEY TEMPORARILY RECALLS ITS AMBASSADOR TO WASHINGTON FOLLOWING U.S. GENOCIDE VOTE

CBC, Canada
Oct 12 2007

Turkey on Thursday asked its ambassador to Washington to return to
Ankara for consultations on a U.S. congressional panel’s decision
to approve a measure recognizing the mass killings of Armenians
as genocide.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Bilman said the ambassador
would stay in Turkey for up to 10 days.

"We are not withdrawing our ambassador. We have asked him to come to
Turkey for some consultations," he said.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives’ foreign affairs
committee narrowly voted to pass a resolution describing the 1915
killings of as many as 1.5 million Armenians as a genocide. The
measure will now head to Congress for a vote within weeks.

Turkey denies the First World War-era incident was a genocide, saying
the numbers have been inflated and that those killed were victims
of civil war. Ankara has threatened sanctions against countries that
use the term genocide in connection with the incident.

Hours before Wednesday’s vote, U.S. President George W. Bush urged
lawmakers to reject the measure, warning it could damage relations
with one of its key allies in the Middle East.

Analysts have pointed out that a Turkish backlash against the
U.S. could lead to restrictions on crucial supply routes to Iraq and
Afghanistan, and the closure of the U.S. Air Force base at Incirlik.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul called the measure’s passage
"unacceptable," and the government issued an official statement
on Thursday.

"It is not possible to accept such an accusation of a crime which
was never committed by the Turkish nation," the statement said. "It
is blatantly obvious that the House Committee on Foreign Affairs does
not have a task or function to rewrite history by distorting a matter
which specifically concerns the common history of Turks and Armenians."

Turkish newspapers decried the U.S. decision, publishing headlines
such as "27 foolish Americans" and "Bill of Hatred."

The U.S. Embassy urged Americans in Turkey to be alert for violent
repercussions.

Armenian President Robert Kocharian welcomed the vote, saying:
"We hope this process will lead to a full recognition by the United
States of America … of the genocide."

Canada passed a parliamentary resolution recognizing the Armenian
genocide in 2004. France and Germany have issued similar resolutions.

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