Balkans.com Business News
March 5 2010

FACTBOX-Vote on Armenia could hurt U.S.-Turkish ties

Turkey has warned ties with ally the United States would be damaged if
a U.S. congressional panel terms a 1915 massacre of Armenians by
Ottoman forces as genocide.

Here are some facts about U.S.-Turkish relations.

* DIPLOMACY:

— U.S.-Turkish ties suffered badly in 2003 when Ankara opposed the
Iraq invasion. Since then, the two allies, which share interests in
Iraq’s stability, patched up differences.

— Barack Obama chose Turkey as the first Muslim country to visit
after becoming president, highlighting the importance he places on the
NATO ally. He called on Turkey to help resolve conflicts from the
Middle East to Afghanistan.

— On the campaign trail, Obama had pledged to call the killing of
Armenians "genocide". During his commemoration of the killings on
April 24, Obama avoided using the word, welcoming efforts by Turkey
and Armenia to normalise ties.

— Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Turkey has stepped up a diplomatic
campaign aimed at blocking the resolution. The issue puts Obama
between its NATO ally and an important U.S. Armenian-American
constituency and their backers in Congress ahead of a November
congressional vote.

* TRADE:

— U.S.-Turkish trade volume was $16.2 billion in 2008.

— The chief executives of Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co, Raytheon
Co, United Technologies Corp and Northrop Grumman Corp issued a rare
joint letter this week, warning passage of the measure by the House
Foreign Affairs Committee could lead to "a rupture in U.S.-Turkey
relations" and put American jobs at risk.

— They said U.S. defense and aerospace exports to Turkey exceeded $7
billion in 2009 and were seen reaching a similar level in 2010,
supporting tens of thousands of U.S. jobs.

— Industry executives are worried about Turkey’s continued
participation in several big U.S. weapons programmes, including the
Lockheed F-35 fighter, a $1.2 billion deal with Boeing for 14 CH-47
Chinook helicopters, and Patriot missile sales.

OIL SECURITY

— With Russia flexing its muscles in the Caucasus, the United States
is keen to reinforce Turkey’s ambitions of becoming a transit route of
Central Asian oil for Europe. Washington, along with the European
Union, back the ambitious Nabucco project that would take Azeri oil to
Europe via Georgia and Turkey.

Source: Reuters, Balkans.com Business News

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