Speaking to reporters at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport before taking a flight to Washington, Ambassador Namık Tan said the government’s decision to recall him was a political message, which he said was received by the US administration. Ankara in turn has received satisfactory responses from the US, paving the way for his return to Washington, Tan went on to say. “We have received the responses that satisfied us. It is time for me to return to my post,” he told reporters.
Turkey decided to send back its ambassador to Washington last week after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a one-hour talk with her Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoğlu, on the phone. Tan’s return to Washington came a week before a key nuclear summit in Washington, which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will also attend. “I will meet the prime minister in Washington at the weekend,” Tan said. He hopes the positive atmosphere in Turkish-US ties will continue after the nuclear summit.
Observers say Tan’s return is also aimed at lobbying in Washington before April 24, when President Barack Obama will issue an annual message to commemorate the Armenians who perished in eastern Anatolia. He refrained from using the word “genocide” in his message last year, but it is unclear whether he will do the same this year.
