Agence France Presse
March 6 2010
Turkey warns US genocide vote will harm relations
(AFP)
ANKARA ‘ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Saturday slammed
as "parody" a US Congress panel’s reference to Ottoman-era massacres
of Armenians as genocide and warned it would harm relations.
Thursday’s approval of the resolution at the US House Foreign Affairs
Committee was the product of "erroneous policies" and "will not bind
us," Erdogan said in televised remarks.
Turkey will "not be deterred by such a comedy, a parody, a fait
accompli," he said in a speech to a business group in Istanbul.
"Let me say quite clearly that this resolution will not harm us. But
it will damage bilateral relations between countries, their interests
and their visions for the future. We will not be the losers," he
added.
An infuriated Turkey recalled its ambassador to the United States for
consultations after the committee narrowly approved the text on
Thursday, opening the door for a vote at the full House of
Representatives.
The non-binding resolution calls on President Barack Obama to ensure
that US foreign policy reflects an understanding of the "genocide" and
to label the mass killings as such in his annual statement on the
issue.
Ankara also warned Washington that it risked damaging bilateral ties
and setting back the already limping Turkish-Armenian reconciliation
process if it did not block the bill from advancing to a full vote.
Following US-backed talks to end decades of hostility, Turkey and
Armenia signed a deal in October to establish diplomatic relations and
open their border.
But the process has already stalled, with Ankara accusing Yerevan of
trying to change the terms of the deal and Yerevan charging that
Ankara is not committed to ratifying the accord.
In a bid to limit the fallout of the committee’s decision, US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that the Obama
administration would "work very hard" to stop the resolution from
going before the full house.
Turkey’s ambassador to Washingon, Namik Tan, arrived back in Turkey on
Saturday, the Anatolia news agency reported, as Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said no one should expect the envoy to return
to his post soon.
Tan’s return "could take a long time. Ties between the two countries
cover a lot of ground," Davutoglu said in comments published in the
mass-circulation Hurriyet daily on Saturday.
Turkish newspapers suggested that Ankara was working on a plan of
measures, including minimizing bilateral contacts and reviewing
economic cooperation and arms contracts, in a bid to keep up the
pressure on the Obama administration.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically
killed during World War I as the Ottoman Empire fell apart.
Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label and says the number of
those killed in what was civil strife during wartime is grossly
inflated.
Washington has traditionally condemned the killings, but refrained
from calling them a "genocide," anxious not to strain relations with
Turkey.
During a visit to Turkey in April, Obama said he retained his view
that the killings amounted to genocide but stressed that
reconciliation between the two neighbours was more important.