BLOCKING GENOCIDE BILL ‘CRITICAL’ FOR US-TURKEY TIES

Press TV
March 29 2010
Iran

Davutoglu has urged the US to stop the "genocide" resolution from
advancing to a full vote at the House of Representatives.

Turkey has urged the United States to block a bill branding the World
War I killing of Armenians as genocide, saying Washington’s stance
in this regard is "critical" for the two countries’ relations.

In a telephone conversation, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday to
stop the resolution from advancing to a full vote at the House of
Representatives.

Davutoglu said blocking the resolution would be "of critical importance
to eliminate the negative impact it has had" on Turkish-US relations
and on efforts aimed at bringing peace between Turkey and Armenia,
Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin said.

The genocide bill was approved by Foreign Affairs Committee of the
US House by a tiny margin in early March, drawing sharp criticism
from Turkey, which recalled its ambassador from Washington.

The non-binding resolution calls on President Barack Obama to ensure
that US foreign policy reflects an understanding of the genocide and
to label the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as
such in his annual statement on the issue.

Clinton has urged the committee not to hold the vote, citing fears that
the move might harm ties with Muslim majority Turkey — Washington’s
key ally in the Middle East — and Turkish-Armenian reconciliation.

The row has cast doubt on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
April visit to Washington for a nuclear security summit.

Yerevan accuses Turkey of killing up to 1.5 million Armenians in
orchestrated killings and deportations under the Ottoman Empire
in 1915-1917.

But Turkey puts the death toll at something between 300,000 to 500,000,
arguing that at least as many Turks died in what Ankara calls a civil
strife in the aftermath of Armenians’ siding with Russian troops
against their Ottoman rulers.