Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Oct 13 2007
Turkish parliamentarians say relations with USA reach "critical
point"
Istanbul, 13 October: Turkish parliamentary delegation, which
travelled to the United States to carry out lobby activities against
a House committee resolution on Armenian allegations, returned to
Turkey on Friday [12 October]. The Turkish delegation was comprised
of Justice & Development (AK) Party Deputy Chairman Egemen Bagis,
Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Sukru Elekdag and Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) deputy Gunduz Aktan.
Holding a press conference in Istanbul about their visit, Turkish
lawmakers said their next efforts will be exerted to avert the
resolution to be brought to a vote in the full House. US House of
Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs approved Wednesday a
resolution regarding Armenian allegations on incidents of 1915.
"It (the resolution) is not legally binding for the administrations
of Turkey and the United States. But it contains an insult on Turkish
people that we do not deserve at all. We do not accept it," said
Egemen Bagis, who is also a foreign policy adviser to Premier Recep
Tayyip Erdogan. "The US administration also worked hard against the
resolution but its passage really disappointed us. We had the
impression that they will pass it in the full House because the US
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi uses it as an instrument in their domestic
politics," Bagis continued.
He said the US lawmakers do not care about Turkey or Armenians, but
they were trying to use the resolution as a tool to embarrass the US
administration in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon and to harm relations
with its one of the most important allies. "Our efforts will continue
to ameliorate it," Bagis reaffirmed.
On the other hand, CHP deputy Sukru Elekdag, a former ambassador,
reiterated that the resolution is not legally binding for Turkey.
"But it will have political and psychological impacts if it passes in
the full House. 18 parliaments, so far, decided that ‘a genocide was
committed’. Now, if the US parliament passes that resolution, it will
become an example and other parliaments will follow them," Elekdag
said. Asked about Turkey’s decision to recall its ambassador in
Washington D.C. for consultations, Elekdag said, "it will be
beneficial to keep Ambassador Nabi Sensoy in Washington D.C. since
the issue is still continuing. We cannot affect our works there
negatively by withdrawing our ambassador."
Bagis said, "we will determine our reaction by holding consultations
with our ambassador. Turkey will do everything in its power to
prevent approval of the resolution by the full House."
Relations with Armenia
"There was Armenian diaspora behind defamatory efforts against Turkey
during the Cold War era. Now, we see that the Armenian Ambassador
guides the diaspora. Actually, Armenia should stop thinking that it
could put pressure on Turkey through the United States and the EU.
Armenia should understand the fact that Turkey is one of its
neighbours, and good neighbourly relations will serve its own
interests. We act with tolerance towards Armenia. There are 70
thousand Armenian citizens working illegally in Turkey. I think the
time has come to end that tolerance, put our laws in practice and
send some of them back to their country. We should also restrict
shuttle trade and transport of foodstuff to Armenia via Georgia,"
Elekdag said.
Meanwhile, Bagis told reporters, "four elderly women were invited to
the meeting at the committee as survivors of so-called genocide. It
was a comedy. I want to stress once again that we should make a clear
difference between Armenian community, which causes the United States
to suffer a heavy damage, and Armenian people in Turkey. The Armenian
Patriarch in Turkey toured the EU-member countries to seek their
support for Turkey’s EU membership. Our citizens of Armenian descent
make valuable contributions to our art and culture."
Expectations from USA
Upon a question about Turkey’s expectations from the United States,
Bagis said, "Turkish people are disappointed. And the United States
should make tangible contributions to Turkey’s fight against the PKK
[Kurdistan Workers’ Party] to ease those feelings. US forces can
capture PKK terrorists in north of Iraq and extradite them to Turkey.
Local militia in north of Iraq can do the same thing. Or if they
cannot do this, they can extend the necessary support to Turkey to
capture those terrorists. We have already explained our expectations.
Actually, the United States is aware that Turkey’s patience has come
to an end."
Elekdag added, "Turkish-American relations have come to a quite
critical point. We expect the United States to fulfil its commitments
regarding the fight against the terrorist organization PKK."