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Ministers told to put US contacts on hold until April 24
The US House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a resolution on March 4 recognizing the claims of genocide. Turkey angrily criticized the move and recalled its ambassador in Washington, Namık Tan, for consultations. The government, considering possible steps for retaliation during a recent Cabinet meeting, has agreed to suspend inter-governmental contact with the US until April 24, when US President Barack Obama will release an annual message commemorating what Armenians say marked the beginning of a genocide campaign during World War I.
Accordingly, the scheduled trips of state ministers Zafer Çağlayan and Egemen Bağış to the US have been postponed. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is currently considering whether he will attend a nuclear summit in the US on April 12-13 upon Obama’s invitation. Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan’s visit to the US to attend the International Monetary Fund (IMF) summit is also under question.
Speaking during the Cabinet meeting on Monday, Erdoğan reiterated that the genocide accusations were not true and added that the US House committee had served the interests of the Armenian diaspora, which is opposed to normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia, according to government sources speaking to Today’s Zaman.
In his April 24 message last year, Obama refrained from using the word genocide in order to avoid harming a process of reconciliation between estranged neighbors Turkey and Armenia, although he had promised during his election campaign that he would formally recognize the claims if elected president. It is not clear how carefully he will tread this year. The Obama administration remained silent in the run up to the vote at the House committee and told the committee chairman that it was opposed to the measure only at the last minute.
Assessing the situation during the Cabinet meeting, Erdoğan said the subsequent attitude of the US is important and the government is following this. “Turkey would never allow its honor to be played with. And I do not believe the US would sacrifice its strategic partner Turkey for simple political calculations. Unless we see anything tangible, we will not send our ambassador back,” Erdoğan said.
Noting that the Obama administration had pandered to the Armenian diaspora because of the congressional elections in November, Erdoğan said the US administration had ignored the sensitivities of the Turkish nation. The US should also be aware that Turkey will be approaching elections in a year, during which the government will be even more severely criticized for its Armenian initiative. Erdoğan chose to remain silent about the absence of help from the American Jewish lobby this year, although one MYK member said, however, that it was shameful for Turkey to need the assistance of the Jewish lobby over an affair that Turkey is unfairly accused of.
Erdoğan and Babacan may go to the US
The possibility Erdoğan attending the nuclear summit in the US is still high. The government does not equate multilateral summits in the US with bilateral relations with the US. For this reason, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan’s visit to the US for the IMF meeting may not be canceled. However, all visits that can be described as “bilateral relations” have been frozen.
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