U.S. EXPECTS TURKISH PM TO NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT IN WASHINGTON
Xinhua General News Service
March 29, 2010 Monday 11:55 AM EST
China
The U.S. administration expects Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan to participate in an international security summit in
Washington slated for next month, Turkey’s Daily News reported on
its website Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu, underlining that Erdogan’s participation is expected
in the International Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Washington
on April 12 and 13 and that his attendance carries great importance
in every respect, Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin said in
a written statement issued Monday.
"Davutoglu stated that the evaluation process on this subject was
still continuing and that Prime Minister Erdogan would make his final
decision on this matter in the coming days," Ozugergin added.
The main agenda of the telephone conversation, which took place upon
the request of the U.S. side, according to the spokesman, was the
Armenian "genocide" resolution that a U.S. congressional committee
passed on March 4.
Davutoglu explained the reasons for the deep disappointment and strong
reaction by Turkish public opinion to the adoption of the resolution
and underlined that it is critically important that the measure not
go any further, said the spokesman.
Clinton stated that she understood Davutoglu’s concerns, and stressed
that the U.S. administration is opposed both to the House Foreign
Affair Committee’s decision and to further action on the " genocide"
bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the spokesman.
On March 4, Turkey temporarily recalled its ambassador to the United
States following a U.S. congressional panel approved a resolution
labeling the incidents of 1915 as "genocide."
Turkey strongly rejects the genocide allegations and regards the
events as civil strife in wartime which claimed lives of many Turks
and Armenians.