Anadolu Agency, Turkey
April 2 2010

Turkish minister welcomes "recent messages from USA"

Ankara, 1 April: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on
Thursday [1 April] that the recent messages from the USA were
eliminating the concerns and meeting the expectations of Turkey.

On 4 March the US House of Representatives committee on foreign
affairs adopted a resolution on Armenian allegations related to the
incidents of 1915 in a voting of 23-22. Following this development,
the Turkish ambassador in Washington, Namik Tan, was summoned to
Turkey.

Davutoglu told reporters that they had not set a date yet regarding
the return of Tan to USA.

Noting that he conveyed Turkey’s views, expectations and concerns to
US State Secretary Hillary Clinton on the phone, Davutoglu said that
Clinton, in return, expressed the importance they attached to Turkish
Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s participation in International Nuclear
Security Summit which would be held in Washington, DC, on 12 and 13
April.

Clinton told me that the USA was aware of the strategic dimension of
the relations between Turkey and the USA, added Davutoglu.

Earlier in the day, Erdogan said that he was still assessing whether
or not he would pay a visit to the United States. Noting that he would
announce his decision probably tomorrow, Erdogan said, "If I decide to
go to the USA, I will send back our Ambassador Tan immediately."