Turkish minister cancels a trip to US over Armenian resolution row

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 09:14

Turkish minister cancels US trip following House panel vote.

Turkey's trade minister has canceled a trip to the United States in response to a US House panel vote last week that recommended labeling the World War I-era killings of Armenians as genocide.

Zafer Caglayan was scheduled to depart for the US on March 19 with a large business delegation. The governmental decision was made Monday during consultations with the country’s ambassador to Washington, who had earlier been recalled in a show of protest.

Ambassador Namık Tan attended a coordination meeting at the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Monday and met Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, diplomatic sources told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Although Davutoglu said the consultations will continue for the next few days, it is unclear when the ambassador will return to Washington.

Speaking to reporters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "As long as the situation does not get any clearer, we will not send our ambassador back to Washington. America should not let go of a strategic ally like Turkey over such an issue," he said, describing the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs' decision as "a comedy stunt."

Erdogan blamed the vote on a combination of "unbecoming" voting procedures in the US Congress and a change of attitude by the "Jewish lobby" to back the resolution.

"The Jewish lobby in the US supported this resolution," he said, adding that it represented "an attitude change" by Israel's supporters in contrast to the past.