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ANKARA: Turkish Envoy Heads Back To US

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  • ANKARA: Turkish Envoy Heads Back To US

    TURKISH ENVOY HEADS BACK TO US

    Hurriyet
    April 6 2010
    Turkey

    'The message we wanted to give has been understood ... and we are
    satisfied,' says Ambassador Namık Tan at the airport. DHA photo

    Turkish Ambassador to the United States Namık Tan returned to
    Washington, D.C., on Tuesday following a month-long diplomatic row
    that had brought him back to Ankara for consultations.

    "Our message has been understood ... It is time for me to go back,"
    Tan told reporters at Ankara's Esenboga Airport.

    Just two weeks after presenting his credentials to U.S. President
    Barack Obama on Feb. 25, Tan left Washington after the U.S. House
    Committee on Foreign Affairs decided on March 4, by a margin of one
    vote, to recognize the events of 1915 as "genocide."

    The Armenian diaspora, which has a powerful lobby in the U.S., claims
    that more than a million Armenians were systematically killed by
    Ottomans in the early 20th century; Turkey firmly rejects allegations
    of a genocide and asserts that both Turkish and Armenian communities
    suffered during civil strife amid World War I. Ankara has suggested
    that Turkey and Armenia establish a joint historical committee to
    examine what happened rather than leaving the issue in the hands
    of politicians.

    "The message we wanted to give has been understood. We have received
    satisfactory answers, too," Tan said in response to questions. "It
    is time for me to go back."

    "I will welcome Mr. Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] in
    Washington over the weekend," the ambassador added, referring to
    the nuclear-security summit that Erdogan will attend with Foreign
    Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and expressing his hope that "the positive
    atmosphere will continue" during the event.

    With Obama expected to host a meeting between Erdogan and
    Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, Tan will be working to set up a
    comprehensive meeting rather than one in which the leaders are just
    pulled aside during the main nuclear-summit talks.

    The Armenian genocide allegations and the Turkey-Armenia reconciliation
    process are likely to top the agenda. Erdogan is expected to urge
    Obama and Sarkisian not to back the Armenian diaspora for the sake
    of the normalization process between Ankara and Yerevan.

    The Turkish prime minister is also expected to advocate that a
    comprehensive solution in the South Caucasus requires normalization
    between Baku and Yerevan as well.
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