ANKARA – Turkey says it is sending its ambassador back to Washington, a month after he was recalled to protest against a US congressional committee labelling as genocide the first World War massacres of Armenians in Turkey.
Prime minister Tayyip Erdogan also confirmed yesterday that he would attend an international nuclear summit to be hosted by President Barack Obama in Washington on April 12th-13th.
“I received an invitation five, six months ago to attend an international event that other countries will also be attending and serves a good cause, to prevent the use and spreading of nuclear weapons,” Mr Erdogan told journalists.
“I will be going to the United States. My ambassador Namik Tan will be go back to Washington before my visit,” the prime minister added.
The US House of Representatives committee had approved a non-binding resolution on March 4th calling on Mr Obama to refer to the killings of as many as 1.5 million Armenian Christians as genocide, prompting Turkey to immediately withdraw its envoy.
Turkey argues that both Turks and Armenians were killed during the chaos of war and break-up of the Ottoman Empire almost a century ago, although nearly 20 countries have said the killings were genocide.
The US is keen to smooth over relations with Turkey, Nato’s only Muslim member and a key ally in trouble spots from Afghanistan to the Middle East.
In a telephone call with foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu last Sunday, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton assured Turkey that the White House opposed the congressional resolution.
It is uncertain whether the resolution will go to a vote of the full House of Representatives or whether it could pass.
The congressional committee only passed the resolution by a single vote.
Washington is seeking to convince Turkey, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, to support a fourth round of UN economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, while Mr Erdogan has spoken against the use of sanctions.
He doubts the effectiveness of sanctions and is worried that Turkey’s trade with its neighbour would inevitably suffer. Iran supplies Turkey with a third of its gas needs.
Despite good relations with Tehran, Mr Erdogan’s own attempts to persuade the Iranian leadership to make moves needed to allay international concerns over its nuclear programme have led to nothing.
However he says diplomatic efforts should be intensified instead of imposing sanctions. – (Reuters)