TURKEY PUTS ON THE PRESSURE: TOP OFFICIAL GOES TO US TOMORROW

Tert.am
10:45, 12.02.10

A senior Turkish official will hold talks in Washington to mainly
discuss the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process. The visit of
Undersecretary of the foreign ministry Feridun Sinirlioglu, set to
start on February 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, reports Turkish daily Hurriyet.

Howard Berman, the Democratic chairperson of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, said last week he intended to call a committee vote March
4, on the resolution urging President Barack Obama to recognize the
1915 Armenian Genocide in the fall of Ottoman Empire.

Sinirliogu is expected to tell the U.S. officials that the vote will
further damage the Turkey-Armenia reconciliation process that has
already seen some tension, caused, as Turkish side puts, 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 these 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.

In this sense, 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.