TURKEY’S AMBASSADOR NOT RETURNING TO US YET

Voice of America
March 9 2010

Turkey says its U.S. ambassador will not return to Washington until
Congress clarifies its stand on a "genocide" resolution discussing
mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks more than 90 years ago.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is visiting Saudi Arabia
Tuesday, has said the issue could greatly harm Turkey’s relations
with the United States.

The dispute began after a House of Representatives committee passed a
resolution declaring the death of hundreds of thousands of Armenians
was an act of genocide by Ottoman Turkish forces.

Before his election, President Barack Obama said he believed the
World War I – era massacre was genocide. Now, however, administration
officials say the president opposes the resolution. The full House
has not yet voted on the non-binding measure.

The Foreign Affairs committee vote last Thursday triggered outrage
in Turkey and prompted the recall of Ambassador Namik Tan.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the Obama administration
will work very hard to make sure the resolution does not come up for
a vote before the full House of Representatives.

However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu contends the
Obama administration is not doing enough to block further action
on the genocide issue, considering that Turkey is a key ally of the
United States. Turkish authorities also say the U.S. resolution will
complicate their efforts to normalize relations with Armenia.

Armenia has praised the resolution, with Foreign Minister Eduard
Nalbandian calling it an important step to help prevent future crimes
against humanity.

Armenians say about 1.5 million people of Armenian descent were
massacred between 1915 and 1923, in what they contend was a campaign
orchestrated by the Ottoman Turkish empire. Turkey, which now has a
secular Muslim democratic government, says that Armenian death toll is
inflated, and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest
in which Turks also died.