TURKISH ENVOY HEADS BACK TO US

Hurriyet
April 6 2010
Turkey

‘The message we wanted to give has been understood … and we are
satisfied,’ says Ambassador Namık Tan at the airport. DHA photo

Turkish Ambassador to the United States Namık Tan returned to
Washington, D.C., on Tuesday following a month-long diplomatic row
that had brought him back to Ankara for consultations.

"Our message has been understood … It is time for me to go back,"
Tan told reporters at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport.

Just two weeks after presenting his credentials to U.S. President
Barack Obama on Feb. 25, Tan left Washington after the U.S. House
Committee on Foreign Affairs decided on March 4, by a margin of one
vote, to recognize the events of 1915 as "genocide."

The Armenian diaspora, which has a powerful lobby in the U.S., claims
that more than a million Armenians were systematically killed by
Ottomans in the early 20th century; Turkey firmly rejects allegations
of a genocide and asserts that both Turkish and Armenian communities
suffered during civil strife amid World War I. Ankara has suggested
that Turkey and Armenia establish a joint historical committee to
examine what happened rather than leaving the issue in the hands
of politicians.

"The message we wanted to give has been understood. We have received
satisfactory answers, too," Tan said in response to questions. "It
is time for me to go back."

"I will welcome Mr. Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] in
Washington over the weekend," the ambassador added, referring to
the nuclear-security summit that Erdogan will attend with Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and expressing his hope that "the positive
atmosphere will continue" during the event.

With Obama expected to host a meeting between Erdogan and
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, Tan will be working to set up a
comprehensive meeting rather than one in which the leaders are just
pulled aside during the main nuclear-summit talks.

The Armenian genocide allegations and the Turkey-Armenia reconciliation
process are likely to top the agenda. Erdogan is expected to urge
Obama and Sarkisian not to back the Armenian diaspora for the sake
of the normalization process between Ankara and Yerevan.

The Turkish prime minister is also expected to advocate that a
comprehensive solution in the South Caucasus requires normalization
between Baku and Yerevan as well.