Turkey criticises Obama admin as weak during Armenia vote

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday that the adoption of the Armenian resolution in the U.S House Committee on Foreign Affairs showed that the Obama Administration did not throw enough of weight around the issue.

The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution Thursday with 23 votes against 22, calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to recognise the tragic events of 1915 --which took place shortly before the fall of the Ottoman Empire-- as Genocide.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on President Barack Obama's administration to block the resolution. He said it should have done more to stop it being passed by the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had spoken with the committee's chairman, Democratic Rep. Howard Berman,shortly before the voting warning that such a vote would jeopardize reconciliation talks between Turkey and Armenia.

The adoption of the resolution stirred wide reaction in Turkey which strongly rejects the genocide allegations and regards the events as civil strife in wartime which claimed lives of many Turks and Armenians.

Davutoglu told an exclusive press conference Friday that the Obama administration's late intervention showed it did not put enough weight around the issue.

He said adoption of the resolution not only risked slowing down of the recent rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia but completely jeopardised the process, urging the U.S. administration to exert more efforts to stop such attempts.

Davutoglu said Turkey made great contributions to the peaceful vision of the Obama administration noting that these should not be sacrificed for domestic political ends.

He said those who argued that the adoption of the resolution would pressurize Turkish Parliament to adopt the protocols were dead wrong, adding that Turkey did not make foreign policy decisions under pressure.

Davutoglu callled on the the U.S. House of Representatives to review their position on this issue noting that their reckless resolution hampered a historic peace between Turkey and Armenia and harmed the Turkey-U.S. relations.

"We expect the US administration to make more efficient efforts from now on" to stop the resolution from advancing to a full House vote, he said.

"We hope Turkish-US ties will not be put to a new test ... otherwise, the prospect that we will face will not be a positive one," he said.

Davutoglu said Turkey summoned its ambassador to U.S. Namık Tan to Ankara to discuss t Turkey's possibble reaction, and steps to be taken in Turkey's relation's with the U.S.

He said they would also discuss the issue with the President, the cabinet and the opposition, adding that the issue was a matter of national honour for Turkey.


/World Bulletin/