GESTURES ARE FINAL WARNING TO U.S.
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Oct 15 2007
Turkish leaders hope a series of "gestures" will be enough to block
a resolution labeling the 1915-1917 massacres of Armenians a genocide
from going to a full vote in the US House of Representatives.
Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy returned home on Saturday for
consultations but will be back in Washington by next month, sources
say.
Sensoy’s "recall" to Ankara should be seen as a protest against the
adoption of the resolution by the House Foreign Affairs Committee,
Turkish government sources said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made it clear that she will submit
the bill to a full vote, despite Turkey’s staunch opposition.
Turkey is trying to demonstrate that "we are not bluffing," a senior
Turkish government source told The New Anatolian. "The resolution
runs contrary to the strategic ties forged with the United States
and we must make the Americans understand this," he said.
Ankara strongly criticised the committee’s vote on Wednesday, saying
it was "unacceptable that the Turkish nation be accused of a crime
it never committed."
It is now trying to limit the damage with a series of diplomatic
measures, such as cancelling joint military exercises and official
visits, to prevent the bill being adopted by the House. The first
move was to call back Turkey’s ambassador in Washington, Nabi Sensoy,
on Thursday.
The Turkish-American Business Council which was supposed to meet in
Washington next week has been cancelled. State Minister Kursat Tuzmen
who was supposed to be attending the meeting and also hold official
talks in Washington also cancelled his trip.
Earlier, the military announced the planned visit of Navy Commander
Admiral Metin Atac to the U.S. was cancelled.
As the Turkish gestures started to unfold the White House moved to ease
Turkish anger. It sent two top government officials to Turkey Saturday.
"We thought it would be very good idea for two senior officials to go"
to Turkey, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Moscow
from where the two officials including a former U.S. ambassador to
Turkey were sent.
"We are certainly working to try to minimize any concrete steps
the government might take, such as restricting the movement of our
troops," said Rice, who along with U.S. President George W. Bush
opposed Wednesday’s resolution.
"I am hopeful we can prevent that," she added.
The officials – Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman,
a former U.S. ambassador to Ankara, and Assistant Secretary of State
for European Affairs Dan Fried – met on their arrival in Turkey with
Ertugrul Apakan, the undersecretary of foreign affairs.
Edelman told reporters as he arrived at Ankara airport that the U.S.
officials’ visit was to express regret for the resolution being
passed. The two had been accompanying Rice in Moscow and their
diversion to Turkey was unscheduled.
After the meeting Edelman said that the two-hour talks had been
constructive. Edelman, ambassador in Ankara from 2003 to 2005, said
that he had expressed his regret that the resolution had been passed
and that the White House was making every effort to stop it going
to the floor of the House for a full vote by the lower chamber of
the Congress.
Fried said that the resolution would have a detrimental effect on
U.S.-Turkish relations but that he hoped to limit this through talks.
Meanwhile, the Turkish party said that Turkish people are disappointed
by the approval of the resolution by the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Foreign Affairs. The Turkish party also asked the
delegation to convey its expectations about the fight against terrorism
to the U.S. administration and the government of Iraq.
Edelman and Fried left Ankara late Saturday following their meetings.
Turkey’s furious reaction to the congressional vote has fueled fears
within the Bush administration that it could lose access to a crucial
military base in NATO ally Turkey.
Though the resolution is non-binding, it is likely to come before
the full House in November although bringing a legislative measure
to the floor does not guarantee that it will proceed to a full vote.
Rice said in Moscow that the White House was trying to limit the
damage to U.S.-Turkish relations and would try to stop a vote going
to the House floor although she said this would be "tough."
She added that she had spoken on Friday to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan following the vote.
"They were dismayed," she said.
Some analysts believe the vote could weaken Washington’s "restraining"
influence on Turkey and increase the likelihood of a Turkish incursion
into northern Iraq to crush Kurdish terrorists.
Rice said she told the Turkish officials "that we all have an interest
in a stable Iraq and that anything that is destabilising is going to
be to the detriment of both of our interests".
"It is a tough time," she told reporters. "It’s not an easy time for
the relationship and it was perfectly predictable."
Ankara has long complained Washington has not done enough on its own
or through the Iraqi government to crack down on PKK militants who
use northern Iraq as a base to attack Turkey.
The possibility of a major Turkish military incursion into northern
Iraq is troubling to US officials, who fear this could destabilise
a relativelystable area of Iraq.