TURKISH MINISTER CANCELS US TRIP FOLLOWING HOUSE PANEL VOTE

Hurriyet
March 9 2010
Turkey

Turkey’s trade minister has canceled a trip to the United States
in response to a U.S. House panel vote last week that recommended
labeling the World War I-era killings of Armenians as genocide.

Zafer Caglayan was scheduled to depart for the U.S. on March 19
with a large business delegation, the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic
Review has learned. The governmental decision was made Monday during
consultations with the country’s ambassador to Washington, who had
earlier been recalled in a show of protest.

Ambassador Namık Tan attended a coordination meeting at the Turkish
Foreign Ministry on Monday and met Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu,
diplomatic sources told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Although Davutoglu said the consultations will continue for the next
few days, it is unclear when the ambassador will return to Washington.

Speaking to reporters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said: "As long as the situation does not get any
clearer, we will not send our ambassador back to Washington. America
should not let go of a strategic ally like Turkey over such an issue,"
he said, describing the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs’
decision as "a comedy stunt."

Erdogan blamed the vote on a combination of "unbecoming" voting
procedures in the U.S. Congress and a change of attitude by the
"Jewish lobby" to back the resolution.

"The Jewish lobby in the U.S. supported this resolution," he said,
adding that it represented "an attitude change" by Israel’s supporters
in contrast to the past.