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ANSAmed - Italy
March 5, 2010 Friday 9:39 AM CET
ANKARA NOT MINCING WORDS;
RECALLS AMBASSADOR AND THREATENS TO CANCEL DEFENCE CONTRACTS
(ANSAmed) The vote of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of
Representatives on a non-binding resolution in which the 1915 and 1917
Armenian massacres that took place during the Ottoman empire are
defined as "genocide" was expected in Ankara.
So much so that, with unusual speed in Turkey, as soon as it was
discovered from the website of the Turkish Cabinet Office that out of
the 46 members of the Committee, 23 against 22 voted in favour of the
document, a message of condemnation immediately appeared. Premier
Tayyip Erdogan expressed concern over the consequences of the vote and
underlined that the taking of a stance by the parliamentary body
"risks damaging Turkish-American relations, as well as the process of
normalisation between Turkey and Armenia."
Shortly after, it was announced that the Turkish Ambassador to the US,
Namik Tan, has been immediately recalled to Ankara "for consultation".
Tan arrived in Washington just a few weeks but is already an expert on
America. That things were not looking good for Ankara was already
clear a few days ago, but events have taken a turn for the worse in
the last 48 hours. Turkey was opposed to the approval of the document
insomuch as it has always denied that the number of Armenians killed
during the massacres total one and a half million (for Ankara there
were "only" 300,000) and that they died as a result of a civil war and
not due to genocide.
Thus yesterday morning Turkey had already raised not only the
possibility of withdrawing their Ambassador if the resolution were
approved, but also the potential of cancelling contracts worth 45
billion dollars with five large US defence companies. Furthermore,
Ankara has circulated - via the Turkish press - a so-called 'Plan B'
to be implemented if the document is approved. This plan sets out,
amongst other things, that Turkey could potentially not ratify the
protocols of normalisation of relations signed in October in Zurich
with Armenia, considered to be important for the stability of the
Caucasus.
March 5, 2010 Friday 9:39 AM CET
ANKARA NOT MINCING WORDS;
RECALLS AMBASSADOR AND THREATENS TO CANCEL DEFENCE CONTRACTS
(ANSAmed) The vote of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of
Representatives on a non-binding resolution in which the 1915 and 1917
Armenian massacres that took place during the Ottoman empire are
defined as "genocide" was expected in Ankara.
So much so that, with unusual speed in Turkey, as soon as it was
discovered from the website of the Turkish Cabinet Office that out of
the 46 members of the Committee, 23 against 22 voted in favour of the
document, a message of condemnation immediately appeared. Premier
Tayyip Erdogan expressed concern over the consequences of the vote and
underlined that the taking of a stance by the parliamentary body
"risks damaging Turkish-American relations, as well as the process of
normalisation between Turkey and Armenia."
Shortly after, it was announced that the Turkish Ambassador to the US,
Namik Tan, has been immediately recalled to Ankara "for consultation".
Tan arrived in Washington just a few weeks but is already an expert on
America. That things were not looking good for Ankara was already
clear a few days ago, but events have taken a turn for the worse in
the last 48 hours. Turkey was opposed to the approval of the document
insomuch as it has always denied that the number of Armenians killed
during the massacres total one and a half million (for Ankara there
were "only" 300,000) and that they died as a result of a civil war and
not due to genocide.
Thus yesterday morning Turkey had already raised not only the
possibility of withdrawing their Ambassador if the resolution were
approved, but also the potential of cancelling contracts worth 45
billion dollars with five large US defence companies. Furthermore,
Ankara has circulated - via the Turkish press - a so-called 'Plan B'
to be implemented if the document is approved. This plan sets out,
amongst other things, that Turkey could potentially not ratify the
protocols of normalisation of relations signed in October in Zurich
with Armenia, considered to be important for the stability of the
Caucasus.