OBAMA TO MEET TURKISH PM ON TUESDAY: WHITE HOUSE

Agence France Presse
April 11, 2010 Sunday 9:05 PM GMT
English

US President Barack Obama will meet Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, on the sidelines of his nuclear security
summit in Washington, the White House said.

The meeting, which was not previously announced, will occur just over
a week after Turkey decided to return its ambassador to Washington
after a row over moves in Congress to brand the World War I massacres
of Armenians as genocide.

"We very much wanted to have this opportunity to consult with Prime
Minister Erdogan," said Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security advisor,
adding that the talks would focus on Iran, Armenia and other issues.

The meeting will also take place as Turkey seeks to revive stalled
reconciliation efforts with Armenia. Obama is due meanwhile to meet
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian in a separate bilateral meeting
on Monday.

Turkey recalled Ambassador Namik Tan on March 4 immediately after
the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a
resolution branding the 1915-17 massacres of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire as genocide.