USN19458481
Turkey, U.S. play down tensions over Armenia issue
Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:02pm EDT
Turkey: Issue won’t ‘hijack’ Obama visit
U.S. wants to work closely with Turkey and Armenia (Adds White House
comment, paragraphs 8-9)
By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) – Seeking to avert tensions during
President Barack Obama’s visit to Turkey, both sides are playing down
potential fallout from a renewed attempt by some U.S. lawmakers to
declare the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide.
Ahmet Davutoglu, foreign policy adviser to Turkish Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan, told reporters on Thursday the issue, which caused
U.S.-Turkish relations to plummet in 2007, would not "hijack" Obama’s
visit to the NATO ally early next month.
"Nothing can shadow the success of this visit," Davutoglu told
reporters after meeting Obama’s national security adviser, Jim Jones,
at the White House.
During his 2008 campaign for the White House, Obama referred to the
killings of Armenians in World War One as genocide, which Turkey
strongly rejects. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton co-sponsored a
genocide resolution on Armenia when she was in the Senate.
The reintroduction on Tuesday by several lawmakers of a new resolution
in the House of Representatives could complicate Obama’s visit and
Davutoglu said the issue was discussed in his meeting with Jones.
Asked whether Obama’s views might have changed, Davutoglu was
noncommittal.
"I did not say yes or no," he said. "Of course, I cannot speak on
behalf of General Jones, but we went through all these issues in a
very friendly and cooperative manner."
White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer declined
to comment on what Jones and Davutoglu discussed regarding the
Armenian issue.
"Our focus is on how, moving forward, the U.S. can help Armenia and
Turkey work together to come to terms with the past," he said. "It is
important that countries have an open and honest dialogue about the
past. At the same time, we want to work closely with both Turkey and
Armenia on the key issues that confront the region."
Recognizing how sensitive the issue could become in U.S.-Turkish
relations, the State Department has avoided comment on the resolution
or what the Obama administration’s policy is on labeling what happened
as genocide.
"I don’t want to go any further on it until we have had a chance to
take a closer look at it and discuss it within the government, and
that’s where I’m going to leave it," State Department spokesman Robert
Wood told reporters on Wednesday.
NO CONGRESSIONAL VOTE ‘ANY TIME SOON’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when asked if it was a good time to bring
up the Armenian resolution, reiterated her view that genocide
occurred.
Whether Obama travels to the region or not "does not deny the fact
that there was an Armenian genocide, and there are those of us in
Congress who will continue to make that point," the California
lawmaker told Reuters.
Pelosi’s spokesman, Brendan Daly, said he did not know whether the
sponsors of the latest resolution had enough support for it to pass in
the House but "no one’s talking about a vote any time soon."
Similar resolutions have been introduced in Congress for years and
Pelosi has been a longtime supporter of having Congress declare the
killings a genocide.
But as speaker, she did not bring the legislation to the floor for a
vote in 2007 after pressure by the Bush administration, amid concerns
over the sensitivities of Turkey. (Additional reporting by Susan
Cornwell; Editing by John O’Callaghan and Peter Cooney)
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