JAMES B. STEINBERG: TURKISH MOVE TO RECALL ENVOY ‘REGRETTABLE’

armradio.am
17.03.2010 11:37

A senior U.S. official has expressed regret over the Turkish
government’s decision to recall its ambassador in a show of protest
against a House committee resolution labeling the 1915 killings of
Armenians as genocide, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

"The decision to recall the ambassador is regrettable; we have a policy
of engagement and I hope Turkey has the same policy with the U.S.,"
James B. Steinberg, the No. 2 official at the U.S. State Department,
said Monday in an address to the Atlantic Council, a think tank in
Washington, D.C.

"I think whatever the differences with Congress on this issue, it is
important that we engage and that we talk about these areas," he said.

An infuriated Turkey recalled Ambassador Namık Tan shortly after the
U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a resolution calling on
President Barack Obama to ensure that U.S. foreign policy reflects
an acknowledgment of the Armenian genocide and to label the 1915
killings as such in his annual statement.