ERDOGAN’S VISIT TO US IN LIMBO OVER ‘GENOCIDE’ TENSIONS

Today’s Zaman
March 17 2010
Turkey

The government is weighing whether Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan should accept an invitation from US President Barack Obama
to visit Washington next month for a nuclear conference at a time
when relations are strained following a US House committee vote to
recognize Armenian claims of genocide.

Another option is the attendance of a government minister, instead of
Erdogan, at the April 12-13 summit, underlining Turkish unease over
the House Foreign Affairs Committee decision earlier this month. The
Obama administration has said it opposed the resolution, but Ankara
asserts that it should have done more to prevent the vote. The passage
in the committee paves the way for a vote in the full House, but US
officials have said it was unlikely that the measure would make its
way to the floor.

To protest the March 4 vote, the government recalled Ambassador to
the US Namık Tan and put its high-level contacts with the US on hold,
waiting for more clarity on how Washington plans to act on the matter.

President Obama is to make an annual statement on April 24, the day
Armenians say marks the beginning of the genocide campaign against
their ancestors in eastern Anatolia during World War I. Last year,
Obama avoided using the word "genocide" while referring to the killings
in order not to harm ongoing talks between Turkey and Armenia to
normalize their relations. It is not clear how he will formulate the
text of the message this year. Government sources have said visits
at the ministerial level to the US will be suspended until April 24.

Prime Minister Erdogan, when responding to a question on whether
he would visit Washington next month, at a press conference late
on Monday, was elusive. "We had no plans to visit the US, although
there was an invitation from the US. These are routine invitations. A
colleague of ours might attend the conference on behalf of Turkey,
but who this person could be, we haven’t decided," he told reporters,
referring to a Cabinet minister.

Earlier in the day, government spokesman Cemil Cicek briefly said
the issue was still under consideration.

On Tuesday, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız also declined to comment
on Turkish participation at the Nuclear Security Summit. "We will
be following developments. We will discuss this issue with the prime
minister," he told reporters.

Yıldız, however, said the political tension over the "genocide"
resolution was unlikely to affect energy cooperation between Turkey
and the US, saying US oil giant Exxon Mobil was to continue exploring
for oil in the Black Sea as part of a previous deal with the Turkish
government to that effect. "I don’t think there will be a negative
impact regarding this project," he said.

US wants dialogue Meanwhile, a senior US official has expressed regret
that Turkey recalled its ambassador and called for continued dialogue,
saying the US highly values its partnership with Turkey in the region.

US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, speaking at a meeting
at the Washington-based Atlantic Council, said the US valued its
partnership with Turkey and was looking forward to working with Turkey
in its process of reconciliation with Armenia, irrespective of what
differences there may be between Turkey and Congress. "We think we
have a very strong and constructive engagement with Turkey, and I hope
the Turkish leadership understands the strong importance we place on
this and continue to work with us to achieve common objectives."