TOP OFFICIAL SET TO VISIT US AMID ARMENIAN ROW
Hurriyet Daily News
Feb 11 2010
Turkey
A senior Turkish official will hold talks in Washington to mainly
discuss strains in the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process. The
visit of Undersecretary of the foreign ministry Feridun Sinirlioglu’s
visit, set to start on Feb. 13, will take place under the shadow of
the pending resolution on Armenian genocide claims in a committee of
the U.S. House of Representatives.
Howard Berman, the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, said last week he intended to call a committee vote March
4, on the non-binding resolution urging President Barack Obama to
describe the 1915 killings during the late days of Ottoman Empire as
genocide. Sinirliogu is expected to tell the U.S. official that the
vote will further damage the Turkey-Armenia reconciliation process
that has already hit the rocks due to the recent decision of the
Armenia’s constitutional court.
The court’s ruling that the interpretation and application of the
protocols signed between the two countries to normalize relations
should be in compliance with the Armenian constitution is a cause of
concern for Turkey since Turkish government argues that the court has
impaired the spirit of the agreements. The Turkish government insists
that the decision prevents the discussion of Armenian genocide claims
by a committee of historians that will be established according to
the articles of the protocols.
Sinirlioglu is expected to seek assurances from the U.S.
administration that the court’s ruling will not legally prevent the
discussion of Armenian claims of genocide.
Turkey believes the pending resolution is aimed at putting pressure
on the government to pass the protocols through Parliament. In
an interview over the weekend, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
denounced the committee for scheduling a vote on an Armenian "genocide"
resolution at this time, saying that its passage would seriously harm
Turkey’s relations with both the United States and Armenia.