As the Swedish government has clearly shown it will not accept the resolution by Sweden's parliament recognizing the World War I killings of Armenians as genocide, it is time to return to Sweden, Turkey's ambassador to Sweden said in Ankara on Tuesday prior to returning to Stockholm.
Zergün Korutürk returned to Sweden after the government decided that the Swedish government had taken the necessary steps to assure Turkey that it will not accept the non-binding resolution and that the resolution was only “advisory” in character. Korutürk was recalled to Turkey on March 11, minutes after Sweden's parliament approved the resolution branding the killings of Armenians in eastern Anatolia in 1915 as genocide. Turkey condemned the vote, recalling its ambassador and cancelling a visit to Sweden by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan scheduled for March 17. Turkey said it signed reconciliation protocols with Armenia, which also included the establishment of a joint historical commission to investigate the events of 1915.
Turkey also emphasized that foreign parliaments should leave assessments of Turkish history to historians and not judge it themselves.
Speaking to reporters before leaving Ankara, Korutürk said recalling ambassadors is a serious reaction, even a protest, in diplomacy. Noting that the every step taken by the Swedish government following the vote proved that it will by no means uphold the resolution and will not accept the decision, Korutürk said the Swedish Constitution leaves foreign policy decisions to governments and the resolution is only “advisory.”
“The Swedish government clearly conveyed that it will not implement the decision,” Korutürk said. The ambassador said many things have changed since she returned to Turkey and summarized the steps the Swedish government has taken to repair the damage caused by the resolution. “The foreign ministers of Turkey and Sweden met in Finland. Sweden said the decision was wrong, and the Swedish prime minister called the Turkish prime minister to apologize. The Swedish government has decreed since then that the decision was very wrong. This has shaped the political will to send the ambassador back to Sweden,” Korutürk said.
Saying she has had the necessary consultations with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Korutürk said her return is a political decision, as was her recall. “There is the political will that I return. The Swedish government’s attitude is important from now on. We will see how they will make amends for this mistake. I hope the Swedish government will do its best in this regard,” Korutürk noted.
Asked why she visited the Kulu district of Konya during her time back in Turkey, Korutürk said she went there to listen to the problems of the people in the district. Many of the Turks living in Sweden have relatives in the Kulu district.
Meanwhile, two senior US officials also expressed hopes that Turkish Ambassador to the US Namık Tan, who was recalled to Turkey following the passage of a non-binding resolution by the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on March 4 recognizing World War I-era killings of Ottoman Armenians as genocide, would return to the US.
During a phone call on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu urged his American counterpart, Hillary Clinton, to take the steps necessary to block the advancement of the resolution to a full House vote.
“We understand the reasons why Turkey recalled its ambassador, and we hope that the ambassador will be returned as quickly as Turkey feels comfortable,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
In addition, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said the Turkish side has made its concerns about the House committee vote known while speaking at a press conference on Monday. “We’ve also made clear our position on that resolution,” he added. “So we hope that this is the basis to move forward because we have a lot of business to do together,” Steinberg said.
On March 4, the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs voted 23-22 to approve the non-binding resolution, clearing it for consideration by the full House. Sweden’s parliament recognized the Armenian “genocide” with a vote of 131 to 130 only a week after the US committee’s vote.
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