Mercan was part of a parliamentary delegation from Turkey in the US capital for a week for talks with members of Congress and officials from the State Department.
"Our goal was to have meetings with the new Congress after Obama began his term in office. We had talks with 12 congressmen. We went into the details of Turkish-American relations and exchanged views," Mercan, of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying yesterday, during a press conference in Washington.
"Maybe for the first time, policies pursued in the region by the new American administration and Turkey are very similar," Mercan said, noting that the new US administration had favored dialogue rather than isolation.
Mercan also said they explained Turkey's position regarding the incidents of 1915, the killings of Anatolia Armenians during World War I, during their meetings, while expressing satisfaction with the atmosphere of these talks. The main message they conveyed to Washington was that official US recognition of the controversial Armenian allegations of genocide might harm Turkish-American relations in the new term and might also spoil the positive atmosphere in the region, Mercan said, noting he didn't expect a resolution for the official recognition of the Armenian allegations to be on the agenda of Congress in the near future.
In 2007, US-Turkish relations deteriorated when Congress took up the issue against the wishes of then-President George W. Bush's administration. Ankara rejects allegations of genocide.
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