Turkish FM blasts U.S. over ‘genocide’ bill
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has protested at the
planned vote on the alleged World War I-era genocide of Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire at a committee of the US House of
Representatives.
Davutoglu said it was not accidental that the bill on the "genocide" will be put on discussion at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US legislature’s lower chamber on March 4, shortly before April 24, the date considered by Armenians to be the anniversary of the alleged mass killings, Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported.
Armenians say Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million people in 1915, a claim strenuously denied by the modern Turkish state.
The Turkish minister told the press on a plane while heading back from an international security conference held in Germany that the developments of the past weeks indicate that they had been planned by the Armenian side. Davutoglu noted that he had conveyed Ankara’s concerns to US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg in Munich.
"I told him that you may consider what is ongoing in Congress as a coincidence, but we don’t think so. We have been deeply troubled by the consecutive events that have occurred in the past weeks," Davutoglu said.
He explained that, first, Armenia’s top court passed a decision on the 2009 protocols on mending its relations with Turkey that Ankara will not accept. Further, Yerevan backtracked from a constructive stance at a recent meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sarkisian held in Sochi, Russia.
"And now, such a bill is being brought before US Congress. These three events’ taking place as a sequence leads us to believe that this is not accidental. Why is this bill coming into agenda now? For example, why not in November?"
Armenia and Turkey have been at odds for decades, with the "genocide" issue being one of the obstacles to normal relations. In a bid to end the long-standing hostility, the two governments signed protocols in Zurich on October 10, 2009 to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders. However, the documents require parliamentary ratification, and Ankara has ruled out normalization with Yerevan until the conflict between Armenia, which occupies part of Azerbaijani territory, and Azerbaijan, Turkey’s ally, has been fairly resolved. On January 19, Armenia’s Constitutional Court upheld the October 2009 accord, but leveled certain pre-conditions, which angered Ankara. The ruling outlined as an objective Yerevan’s pursuing recognition of the alleged 1915 killings as genocide. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the ruling contained pre-conditions contradicting the premise of the 2009 reconciliation accord.
Davutoglu warned that Turkey will not take any steps under pressure.
"They shouldn’t expect us to take a step we don’t believe is right, with April 24 being used as a pressure tool. Putting this bill on the agenda does not meet the interests of either the United States, Turkey or Armenia. This could undermine our bilateral relations with the U.S. and the process of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation that we have tried so hard to bring to this level. Washington should be attentive on issues that we deem sensitive."
The bill, submitted to the House of Representatives, has been signed by 137 out of 435 lawmakers. The 46-member Foreign Affairs Committee is expected to vote on the issue March 4. If approved, the draft resolution will be sent to the House of Representatives.*
Davutoglu said it was not accidental that the bill on the "genocide" will be put on discussion at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US legislature’s lower chamber on March 4, shortly before April 24, the date considered by Armenians to be the anniversary of the alleged mass killings, Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported.
Armenians say Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million people in 1915, a claim strenuously denied by the modern Turkish state.
The Turkish minister told the press on a plane while heading back from an international security conference held in Germany that the developments of the past weeks indicate that they had been planned by the Armenian side. Davutoglu noted that he had conveyed Ankara’s concerns to US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg in Munich.
"I told him that you may consider what is ongoing in Congress as a coincidence, but we don’t think so. We have been deeply troubled by the consecutive events that have occurred in the past weeks," Davutoglu said.
He explained that, first, Armenia’s top court passed a decision on the 2009 protocols on mending its relations with Turkey that Ankara will not accept. Further, Yerevan backtracked from a constructive stance at a recent meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sarkisian held in Sochi, Russia.
"And now, such a bill is being brought before US Congress. These three events’ taking place as a sequence leads us to believe that this is not accidental. Why is this bill coming into agenda now? For example, why not in November?"
Armenia and Turkey have been at odds for decades, with the "genocide" issue being one of the obstacles to normal relations. In a bid to end the long-standing hostility, the two governments signed protocols in Zurich on October 10, 2009 to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders. However, the documents require parliamentary ratification, and Ankara has ruled out normalization with Yerevan until the conflict between Armenia, which occupies part of Azerbaijani territory, and Azerbaijan, Turkey’s ally, has been fairly resolved. On January 19, Armenia’s Constitutional Court upheld the October 2009 accord, but leveled certain pre-conditions, which angered Ankara. The ruling outlined as an objective Yerevan’s pursuing recognition of the alleged 1915 killings as genocide. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the ruling contained pre-conditions contradicting the premise of the 2009 reconciliation accord.
Davutoglu warned that Turkey will not take any steps under pressure.
"They shouldn’t expect us to take a step we don’t believe is right, with April 24 being used as a pressure tool. Putting this bill on the agenda does not meet the interests of either the United States, Turkey or Armenia. This could undermine our bilateral relations with the U.S. and the process of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation that we have tried so hard to bring to this level. Washington should be attentive on issues that we deem sensitive."
The bill, submitted to the House of Representatives, has been signed by 137 out of 435 lawmakers. The 46-member Foreign Affairs Committee is expected to vote on the issue March 4. If approved, the draft resolution will be sent to the House of Representatives.*