CLINTON REAFFIRMS OPPOSITION TO GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
Today’s Zaman
March 30 2010
Turkey
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reiterated that the Obama
administration stands opposed to a resolution on Armenian genocide
claims passed by a US congressional committee earlier this month and
is also against a full House vote on the measure.
Clinton reaffirmed the administration’s position during a one-hour
phone conversation with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday,
Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin said in a statement released
on Monday. The conversation was initiated by the US side, he said,
and mainly focused on the resolution narrowly passed at the US House
Committee on Foreign Affairs on March 4.
The nonbinding resolution calls on President Barack Obama to label the
mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide in
the US president’s annual statement on the issue, released on April
24 of every year. Turkey denies the genocide charges and calls for
historians to study the events, which took place a century ago.
Turkey angrily protested the vote and recalled its ambassador in
Washington, D.C., saying it demands more clarification from the US
administration that it is opposed to the resolution. Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan also put on hold a visit to the United States
April 13-14 during which he would have attended a nuclear energy
summit in the US capital.
Davutoglu reiterated that the passage of the resolution created deep
disappointment in the Turkish public and explained openly why the vote
led to such a reaction from the Turkish government, Ozugergin said.
Davutoglu underlined that it was of "critical importance" for the
resolution to not be brought to the House of Representatives for a vote
and that politicians should not make decisions on history, warning
that doing otherwise could damage both Turkish-US ties and historic
efforts between Turkey and Armenia to reconcile their differences.
Speaking after the House committee vote, Clinton said any action
by the US Congress on this issue was not appropriate and that the
administration does not believe "the full Congress will or should
act upon that resolution." But Ankara still resents that the US
administration had not done enough to prevent the vote and is waiting
to see if President Obama will use the word "genocide" in his April
24 message.
Clinton told Davutoglu that she understood the Turkish concerns and
added that US officials hope Erdogan will attend the nuclear summit
in Washington, D.C. In response, Davutoglu said Erdogan would decide
in the coming days whether to attend the meeting or not. More than
40 world leaders are expected at the summit.
Punishing illegal Armenian immigrants?
In an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel, Erdogan reiterated
earlier remarks that Turkey could deport thousands of illegal Armenian
immigrants if the parliaments of foreign countries continue to pass
resolutions endorsing claims of genocide, under pressure from the
Armenian diaspora.
"I talked about what we could do. For years we have tolerated Armenians
without residence permits. All I said was that this does not always
have to be the case. The problem of illegal workers is discussed
openly all over the world, but when someone in Turkey makes such a
statement, people feel troubled. Why?" he asked in the interview for
the journal’s latest issue.
Asked why he wanted to punish Armenians in Turkey for resolutions
adopted elsewhere, he said: "Who says that we hold Armenians
responsible for this? I never said that. … So far, we have not
considered the question of deportation, but if the diaspora continues
to exert pressure, we could imagine ourselves capable of doing that."