CLINTON MAKES PLEDGE ON GENOCIDE RESOLUTION – TURKEY

Swissinfo
/international/Clinton_makes_pledge_on_genocide_re solution_-_Turkey.html?cid=8579252
March 29 2010
Switzerland

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has
assured Turkey that the White House opposes a congressional resolution
labelling the World War One massacres of Armenians in Turkey as
genocide, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry issued the statement after a telephone call between
Clinton and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday.

The United States is keen to smooth over relations with Turkey, NATO’s
only Muslim member, and a key ally in trouble spots from Afghanistan
to the Middle East.

Turkey recalled its ambassador in Washington after a U.S. House of
Representatives committee approved a non-binding resolution on March
4 calling on President Barack Obama to refer to the killings of as
many as 1.5 million Armenians almost a century ago as genocide.

It is unclear whether the resolution will go to a vote of the full
House of Representatives — or whether it could pass.

"Secretary Clinton emphasized that the U.S. administration opposes
both the decision accepted by the committee and the decision reaching
the general assembly," the statement said.

In Washington, a State Department spokesman said Clinton and Davutoglu
also talked about Turkey’s decision to recall its ambassador from
Washington.

"Certainly, from our standpoint, we understand the reasons why Turkey,
you know, recalled its ambassador, and we hope that the ambassador
will be returned as quickly as Turkey feels comfortable," State
Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

Clinton and Davutoglu had a "warm and constructive conversation,
and both the minister and the secretary underscored the importance
of our strategic partnership between Turkey and the United States,"
Crowley said.

More than 20 countries recognise the killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks nearly a century ago as genocide. Turkey argues that both Turks
and Armenians were killed during the chaos of war and the break-up
of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey now wants to be sure that Obama will not use the term genocide
in an address scheduled for April 24, underscoring its concerns with
a halt on high-profile visits by its officials.

Davutoglu told Clinton the congressional committee’s resolution had
hurt efforts to improve stability in the South Caucasus.

While Turkey and Armenia are trying to normalise relations and open
their shared border, progress is complicated by hostility between
Armenia and Turkey’s fellow-Muslim ally, Azerbaijan.

Clinton said U.S. officials hoped Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
would attend a summit in Washington next month on nuclear disarmament,
the foreign ministry statement said.

Davutoglu said Erdogan would decide in the next few days whether
to attend the April 13-14 meeting, where more than 40 world leaders
are expected.

Turkey has offered to use its close ties with Iran in Tehran’s dispute
with the West over its nuclear program, but has indicated it may not
support a fourth round of U.N. sanctions being prepared by the United
States and other Western powers.