, turkey
March 6 2010

Erdogan: US resolution wont harm Turkey anyway but bilateral ties

Turkish PM Erdogan said that the U.S. House resolution on Armenian
allegations would not harm Turkey in anyway.

Saturday, 06 March 2010 14:29

Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that the U.S. House
resolution on Armenian allegations would not harm Turkey in anyway but
really hurts the relations between two ally, at a business conference
in Istanbul.

"We will not lose anything. Those who act on animosity and a feeling
of revenge with cheap tricks, they will lose. Let me put this clearly,
the resolution of the U.S House Committee on Foreign Affairs will not
harm Turkey in anyway," said Erdogan.

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 incidents of 1915 –which
took place shortly before the fall of the Ottoman Empire– as
genocide.

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

Erdogan said the resolution on Armenian allegations would seriously
harm U.S. relations and interests.

Turkey insists that World War I-era incidents should be examined by
historians using scientific tools and archives, Anadolu Agency said.

"Relations harmed"

"The decision of the Foreign Affairs Committee will not hurt Turkey,
but it will greatly harm bilateral relations, interests and vision.
Turkey will not be the one who loses," said Erdogan, speaking at a
summit of Turkish businessmen.

Turkey severely criticized the resolution Friday warning that it would
jeopardise the historic rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia and
harm Turkey-U.S. relations.
Turkish Foreign Minister told an exclusive press conference that the
Obama Administration did not throw enough weight around the issue.

Following Turkey’s reaction the Obama administration announced that it
was against any further congressional action on the resolution warning
the congress that it could harm the normalisation process between
Turkey an Armenia.

The Congress is yet to decide whether or not to put the resolution to
vote in the house floor, which would seriously risk further straining
relations with Turkey, a close ally to the U.S. for decades.

The Obama administration made a last-minute appeal against the
resolution and has vowed to stop the vote, which was broadcast live on
Turkish television, from going further in Congress.

Ambassador to U.S. recalled

Turkey recalled its envoy to the United States for consultations.

Turkey’s ambassador to the United States told journalists upon his
return on Saturday it was unclear when he would head back to
Washington following his talks with the president, prime minister and
foreign minister.

"I will return when the time is right … We will have to wait and
see," Namik Tan said. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted in a
media report as saying that the consultations could last "a long
time."

The resolution urges Obama to use the term "genocide" when he delivers
his annual message on the killing of Armenians in April.

Commentators had said the bill could affect Washington’s use of the
Incirlik air base in southeast Turkey which s unpopular among Turkish
people ans many intellectuals. Turkish lawmakers rejected to accept
the base iduring Iraq war in the first parliament vote but in next
sessions it is accepted.

Turkey is a transit route for U.S. troops going to and from Iraq, and
the country has 1,700 non-combat troops in Afghanistan.

Agencies