, Turkey
March 5 2010

Turkey criticises Obama admin as weak during Armenia vote

Davutoglu said Obama Administration did not throw enough of weight
around the issue.

Friday, 05 March 2010 14:41

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday that the adoption
of the Armenian resolution in the U.S House Committee on Foreign
Affairs showed that the Obama Administration did not throw enough of
weight around the issue.

The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives
adopted a resolution Thursday with 23 votes against 22, calling on
U.S. President Barack Obama to recognise the tragic events of 1915
–which took place shortly before the fall of the Ottoman Empire– as
Genocide.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on President Barack Obama’s
administration to block the resolution. He said it should have done
more to stop it being passed by the House of Representatives Foreign
Affairs Committee.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had spoken with the
committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Howard Berman,shortly before the
voting warning that such a vote would jeopardize reconciliation talks
between Turkey and Armenia.

The adoption of the resolution stirred wide reaction in Turkey which
strongly rejects the genocide allegations and regards the events as
civil strife in wartime which claimed lives of many Turks and
Armenians.

"Do more"

Davutoglu told an exclusive press conference Friday that the Obama
administration’s late intervention showed it did not put enough weight
around the issue.

He said adoption of the resolution not only risked slowing down of the
recent rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia but completely
jeopardised the process, urging the U.S. administration to exert more
efforts to stop such attempts.

Davutoglu said Turkey made great contributions to the peaceful vision
of the Obama administration noting that these should not be sacrificed
for domestic political ends.

He said those who argued that the adoption of the resolution would
pressurize Turkish Parliament to adopt the protocols were dead wrong,
adding that Turkey did not make foreign policy decisions under
pressure.

Davutoglu callled on the the U.S. House of Representatives to review
their position on this issue noting that their reckless resolution
hampered a historic peace between Turkey and Armenia and harmed the
Turkey-U.S. relations.

"We expect the US administration to make more efficient efforts from
now on" to stop the resolution from advancing to a full House vote, he
said.

"We hope Turkish-US ties will not be put to a new test … otherwise,
the prospect that we will face will not be a positive one," he said.

Davutoglu said Turkey summoned its ambassador to U.S. Namık Tan to
Ankara to discuss t Turkey’s possibble reaction, and steps to be taken
in Turkey’s relation’s with the U.S.

He said they would also discuss the issue with the President, the
cabinet and the opposition, adding that the issue was a matter of
national honour for Turkey.

Agencies