ANKARA MULLS U.S. TRADE POST-GENOCIDE BILL

UPI United Press International
2010/03/24/Ankara-mulls-US-trade-post-genocide-bil l/UPI-44181269442251/
March 24 2010

ANKARA, Turkey, March 24 (UPI) — Ankara halted efforts to expand
defense, trade and energy ties with Washington in the wake of a
U.S. measure declaring Ottoman-era killings an act of genocide.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs
narrowly passed a non-binding resolution March 4 that classifies the
1915 killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire an act of genocide.

The measure passed despite a last-minute plea by U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton.

Ankara contends the events in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians
were killed during World War I were exaggerated and says the genocide
classification wasn’t a matter for U.S. lawmakers to decide.

Zafer Caglayan, the Turkish minister for foreign trade, told the
Financial Times that Ankara halted its effort to expand trade relations
with the United States in part because of the genocide resolution.

"All steps taken so far are at a halt," he said.

Direct trade between Turkey and the United States is focused on arms
and aerospace.

Ankara recalled its ambassador to Washington in the wake of the
resolution. The trade-focused American-Turkish Council, meanwhile,
is delaying an annual conference because of the measure.

The Turkish government warned that passage of the measure could
unsettle bilateral cooperation in the region, including key support
from Ankara in the U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ankara’s
relationship with Tehran could be a factor as well.