Anadolu Agency, Turkey
March 5 2010
Ambassador to USA to return to Turkey for consultations
Washington, D.C. 5 March: The Turkish ambassador to the United States
said on Thursday that he would return to Turkey on Friday.
Ambassador Tan said he had to return to Turkey on Friday under a
decision of the government.
Tan’s remarks came after the US House of Representatives Committee on
Foreign Affairs acknowledged Armenian allegations.
"I will consult with my government, and you will see how and when I
will return here after I get necessary instructions and according to
course of developments," Tan told a press conference in Washington,
D.C.
Tan expressed deep sorrow over adoption of the resolution on so-called
Armenian allegations.
"What we lost today is also away from being a victory for the other
side," he said.
Also speaking in the press conference, Sukru Elekdag, a lawmaker from
the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said, "they won with only one
vote, however I think they have not won it in a proud way and they
have lost much from their prestige, esteem and pride."
Elekdag said the US administration had not strongly objected to the resolution.
"If the administration had extended a little bit more support to us,
this resolution would have been prevented," he said.
Elekdag said it was wrong to show reaction and flare up at first but
it was important to retain the reaction.
Mithat Melen of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) was another
Turkish lawmaker who travelled to the United States to lobby against
the resolution.
Melen said Turkey should not "take urgent decisions" but "should
decide after thinking calmly and without exaggerating the situation".
The committee approved the resolution on incidents of 1915 – which
took place shortly before the fall of the Ottoman Empire – with 23
votes against 22.
Turkey strongly rejects the genocide allegations and regards the
events as civil strife in wartime which claimed lives of many Turks
and Armenians.
Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols last October to normalize
relations, however, parliaments of the two countries has not passed
them yet.
Every year between March 4 and April 24 alarm bells ring for relations
between Turkey and US, two close allies for decades.
The Armenian lobbies in the US pressure the US legislators to pass a
resolution urging the President to recognise the events as genocide.
Turkish legislators and officials pay visits to US House and hold
meetings with senior US officials and businessmen to prevent the
resolution from being adopted.
A similar resolution was adopted with 27 seven votes against 21 in
2007 but as a result of former President George W. Bush’s
intervention, the resolution was not brought to the full house.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
