Antiwar.com
March 5 2010

Turkey Warns Ties With US Will Worsen Over Genocide Vote

Turkish FM Slams Obama For Failing to Sway Congress
by Jason Ditz, March 05, 2010

Tensions with Turkey continue to rise in reaction to yesterday’s House
Foreign Affairs Committee vote, which 23-22 affirmed that the Ottoman
era killing of Armenians amounted to genocide.

Ahmet DavutogluTurkey withdrew its ambassador to the United States
yesterday in protest, and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu declared
today in a press conference that long-term relations with the US going
forward will not be `positive’ as a result.

Davutoglu also angrily condemned President Obama for his failure to
sway the House committee, saying Obama had not done a good enough job
of explaining the importance of US-Turkey relations. President Obama
had campaigned in support of the measure before his election, but has
since adopted the stance demanded by the Turkish government.

The vote reportedly has several major US military contractors
concerned, as they stand to lose major weapons contracts if relations
with Turkey continue to worsen. Turkey may also take a stronger
position on other matters, including the vote against Iran in the UN
Security Council. Turkey’s longstanding relations with Iran already
made such a vote difficult.

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