Turkey recalls US envoy in anger

Congressional panel declares killing of Armenians in WWI a genocide.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Namik Tan 311 (photo credit: AP)
Namik Tan 311
(photo credit: AP)
Turkey said Thursday night it was recalling its ambassador to the US for consultations following a resolution declaring the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I genocide.
The move came minutes after the US congressional panel approved the resolution.
A government statement said Ambassador Namik Tan was being recalled with immediate effect.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed the resolution with a 23-22 vote, even though the Obama administration had urged Congress not to offend Turkey by approving it.
The resolution now goes to the full House, where prospects for passage are uncertain.
Turkey, a NATO ally with a pivotal role for US interests in the Middle East and Afghanistan, has warned that the resolution's approval could jeopardize US-Turkish cooperation and set back negotiations aimed at opening the border between Turkey and Armenia.
Armenian American groups have for decades sought congressional affirmation of the killings as genocide.
Hours before the vote, White House spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had spoken with the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Democratic Rep. Howard Berman, and indicated that "further Congressional action could impede progress on normalization of relations" between Turkey and Armenia.
Hammer would not elaborate on the details of the conversation.
Still, Berman on Thursday urged fellow members of the committee to pass the resolution.
"The Turks say passing this resolution could have terrible consequences for our bilateral relationship, and indeed perhaps there will be some consequences," Berman said. "But I believe that Turkey values its relations with the United States at least as much as we value our relations with Turkey."
Even if the measure doesn't go beyond the committee, Turkey has warned it could jeopardize US-Turkish cooperation and set back negotiations aimed at opening the border between Turkey and Armenia.
Hammer said Obama called Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul, on Wednesday to express his appreciation for Turkey's efforts to normalize relations with Armenia. Obama urged Turkey to rapidly ratify a deal reached in October with Armenia that would open the border between the two countries.
The deal must be approved by the Turkish parliament, and Turkish lawmakers have warned that the committee's vote could stall progress.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs suggested the administration was trying to buy time for Turkey's parliament to act.
"Our focus is on continuing to make progress on an issue that has, for almost 100 years, divided two countries," Gibbs said. "Through some very tough diplomatic work by Secretary Clinton, we've made progress. We're on the cusp of normalization."
The Foreign Affairs Committee approved a similar genocide measure in 2007, but it was not brought to the House floor for a vote following intensive pressure by then-President George W. Bush.
Following the 2007 committee vote, Turkey promptly recalled its ambassador, and US officials feared the Turks might cut off American access to a Turkish air base essential to operations in Iraq.
On Thursday, a Turkish official suggested his country could again recall its ambassador to the United States if the congressional panel approves the resolution.
"All options are on the table," the government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will wait to see the result of the committee vote before deciding whether to bring it up for a vote.
The United States still wants Turkey's support for its operations inIraq and Afghanistan. It also is pressing Turkey, which holds arotating seat on the UN Security Council, to support sanctions againstIran, Turkey's neighbor.
Armenian American groups have for decades sought congressionalaffirmation of the killings as genocide. Historians estimate that up to1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time ofWorld War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the first genocideof the 20th century. Turkey denies that the deaths constitutedgenocide, saying the toll has been inflated and those killed werevictims of civil war and unrest.
In April, Obama failed to brand the killings genocide in an annualWhite House statement on the day marking Armenian remembrance. Obamasaid that while he had not changed his personal views, he did not wantto upset promising talks between Turkey and Armenia on improvingrelations and opening their border. Turkey sealed the border in 1993 toprotest Armenia's war with neighboring Azerbaijan.
The White House reiterated that Obama's views of the killings hadn't changed.