Turkish MP says there will be no winners on Armenia vote

Chairman of the Turkish Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Murat Mercan, said Friday the voting that took place in the U.S. House of Representatives' Foreign Relations Committee on the incidents of 1915 on Thursday was nothing but a "great comedy" ever witnessed in the world.

In a press conference held at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., Mercan thanked all Turkish deputies from both the ruling and opposition parties, Ambassador Namik Tan, distinguished members of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. and all lobbyists who all worked to convey Turkish position on the incidents of 1915 prior to Thursday's voting on a resolution at the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.

I had a phone conversation with the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmet Davutoglu, and our minister told me to convey his thanks and appreciation to all that worked against the resolution on the incidents of 1915, Mercan stressed.

As we have witnessed here, regardless of political backgrounds, the Turkish nation is one that comes together and unites during tough times, Mercan underlined.

No matter how the resolution ends in the near future, Turkey will definitely not be a loser and there will be no winners, Mercan said.

The only entity that won due to Thursday's voting was a handful of Armenian diaspora members who have undermined the good will and stability in the (Caucasus) region, Mercan underlined.

The result at the U.S. committee has neither increased nor decreased the number of things we must do, Mercan reminded.

Meanwhile, a Turkish deputy from the north-western province of Istanbul, Sukru Elekdag, said that, if the protocols signed by Turkey and Armenia come to the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Turkish Parliament, the protocols may not be approved or the committee may behave in a similar fashion as of the Armenian Constitutional Court.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Relations approved the resolution on Armenian allegations on Thursday.

The committee approved the resolution on incidents of 1915 --which took place shortly before the fall of the Ottoman Empire-- with 23 votes against 22.

The resolution was proposed by Democrats Adam Schiff and Frank Pallone and Republicans George Radanovich and Mark Kirk, all important figures for the Armenian lobby in the U.S..

Turkey strongly rejects the genocide allegations and regards the events as civil strife in wartime which claimed lives of many Turks and Armenians.

Every year between March 4 and April 24 alarm bells ring for relations between Turkey and U.S., two close allies for decades.

The Armenian lobbies in the U.S. pressure the U.S. legislators to pass a resolution urging the President to recognise the events as genocide.

Turkish legislators and officials pay visits to U.S. House and hold meetings with senior U.S. officials and businessmen to prevent the resolution from being adopted.

A similar resolution was adopted with 27 votes against 21 in 2007 but as a result of former President George W. Bush's intervention, the resolution was not brought to the House floor.


/World Bulletin/