TURKEY PRESSES OBAMA AHEAD OF ARMENIA GENOCIDE VOTE
Agence France Presse
March 4 2010
Turkey on Thursday pressured the United States to block a bill
branding the massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide so
as to avoid damage to strategic ties between the two allies.
As a key US congressional committee prepared to vote on the symbolic
bill, President Abdullah Gul called his US counterpart Barack Obama
and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu delivered a final warning for
lawmakers to vote "no".
"Turkish US ties are going through a very important phase in which
they need strategic cooperation at the highest level in their history,"
Davutoglu said here Thursday.
"Everyone should keep in mind the comprehensive framework of Turkish-US
ties and the potential they have in contributing to global and regional
peace," he added.
Gul held a telephone conversation with Obama late Wednesday that
focused on "issues concerning bilateral ties and regional affairs",
a presidential aide told AFP.
The Hurriyet daily said Gul urged the US leader to use his influence
to block the resolution, warning that its adoption would hurt ties
between the two NATO allies.
The US committee will vote on the resolution Thursday and approval
would send the bill to the full House for consideration.
The non-binding resolution calls on Obama to ensure that US foreign
policy reflects an understanding of the "genocide" and to label the
World War I killings as such in his annual statement on the issue.
Ankara has warned the bill would also undermine bridge-building efforts
with Yerevan, which have already hit snags as both countries charge
that the other is not truly committed to reconciliation.
"We have taken very important steps for comprehensive normalization
in the Caucasus. It is necessary to avoid risking these efforts,"
Davutoglu said.
The minister did not say what Turkey would do if the bill were adopted,
but a Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
"all options are on the table", including recalling the ambassador.
In 2007, Ankara summoned its envoy back to Ankara when the committee
passed a similar text. Former US president George W. Bush stopped
the resolution from going to the full house, wary over reports that
Ankara would block US access to a key air base essential for Iraq
and Afghanistan operations.
Turkish lawmakers who went to Washington this week to lobby US
congressmen said they expected a close vote this time.
"If we fail to block (the bill) at the committee, we will stop it
from going to the House," one of the lawmakers, Suat Kiniklioglu, said.
Washington has traditionally condemned the 1915-1918 mass killings,
but refrained from dubbing them a "genocide", wary not to strain
relations with a key Muslim ally.
Obama pledged during his election campaign to recognise the massacres
as genocide, but refrained from using the term in his message last
year to commemorate the killings.
During a visit to Turkey in April, Obama said he retained his view
that the killings amounted to genocide but stressed that reconciliation
between the two neighbours was more important.
Turkey and Armenia signed a deal in October to establish diplomatic
relations and open their border.
But the process has hit the rocks, with Ankara accusing Yerevan of
trying to tweak the terms of the deal and Yerevan charging that Ankara
is not committed on ratifying the accord.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed during World
War I as the Ottoman Empire fell apart, a claim supported by several
other countries.
Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000-500,000
Armenians and at least as many Turks died in what was a civil strife.