EuroNews – France
March 5, 2010 Friday
Turkey speaks out against US genocide vote
Thursday’s genocide vote in the US congress has produced strong
reactions from both Armenia and Turkey. Unsurprisingly, the Armenians
are happy at the outcome, while Turkey has recalled its US ambassador.
Kenneth Hachikan, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee, said:
"Clearly the members of the committee were under incredible pressure
from the Turkish government, and even as late as last night,
apparently from the administration, to not do this. So we applaud the
bipartisan endorsement of what occurred, and we look forward to moving
this on the House floor."
The Turkish response was blunt. Murcat Mercan, from the Turkish
Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters: "We said at the very
beginning that the protocols will be affected, and we are a big, very
important country. We don’t bluff. Whatever we said in the past will
come true."
The yes vote means that the issue of whether to call the 1915 killing
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide, can now be considered by the
full House of Representatives.