ERDOGAN TO ANNOUNCE TODAY FINAL CALL ON ATTENDING NUCLEAR SUMMIT

Today’s Zaman
April 2 2010
Turkey

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said that he is likely
to announce his final decision on whether to accept an invitation
from the White House today, noting that he would return the Turkish
ambassador, who was recalled last month, back to Washington if he
decides to attend the nuclear energy summit.

"At the moment, I’m making the assessment with my advisors," Erdogan
said when asked whether he would participate at the summit on nuclear
security on April 13.

Following the adoption of a nonbinding resolution by the US House
Committee on Foreign Affairs on March 4 recognizing the World War
I-era killings of Ottoman Armenians as genocide, Turkey recalled its
ambassador in Washington, Namık Tan, to Ankara for consultations
while Erdogan put his visit to the United States April 13-14, during
which he is to attend the nuclear energy summit in the US capital at
the invitation of US President Barack Obama, on hold.

"I think that I will announce my decision on this issue tomorrow
[today]. In the case that I decide to go, then I will soon send our
ambassador back," Erdogan added.

During a telephone conversation between US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday,
which was initiated by the US side, the former reiterated that the
Obama administration stands opposed to the resolution on Armenian
genocide and is also against a full House vote on the measure.

During the same conversation, Clinton told Davutoglu that US officials
hope Erdogan will attend the nuclear summit in Washington, D.C.,
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Burak Ozugergin said in a statement
released on Monday. 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.

Speaking with reporters earlier on Thursday before Erdogan’s brief
remarks on his Washington visit, Ozugergin highlighted that Ankara
considers the telephone conversation between Clinton and Davutoglu as
"useful" in regards to its ongoing assessment on the timing of Tan’s
return to Washington. He also noted that there was no exact decision
yet on Tan’s return or Erdogan’s participation in the nuclear summit,
unlike what Turkish newspapers claimed in their Thursday editions.

Later on Thursday afternoon, Davutoglu was scheduled to host a US
delegation at the ministry led by Republican Congressman Edward
Whitfield (Kentucky), the co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on
US-Turkish Relations, who is among the critics of the resolution.

Ozugergin, speaking with reporters during an online press conference
held by the ministry, was also reminded of recent Turkish news reports
quoting a senior Armenian official as suggesting that Yerevan was
planning to propose putting the normalization protocols signed by
the two capitals on hold and asked whether Turkey has received such
a proposal.

"No official request by Armenia for the annulment or suspension of
the signed protocols has arrived. Beyond this, even putting forward
such a discourse is not appropriate," Ozugergin said.

"On the other hand, claiming that Turkey is not interested in the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue would not be true. Instead
of discussing whether this element was within the protocols or not,
it is necessary to get used to seeing the Nagorno-Karabakh issue as
part of the integrated whole in regards to peace and stability in the
Caucasus. In other words, it will not be possible to resolve problems
in the region without having the Nagorno-Karabakh issue resolved,"
he added, referring to a territorial dispute between Baku and Yerevan.

Recent Turkish news reports also quoted the same senior Armenian
official as voicing disappointment over the fact that Turkey has turned
the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue into a precondition,
although this was not the case when the protocols were negotiated
and eventually signed.