Turkey on Thursday asked its ambassador in Washington to return to Turkey for consultations over a U.S. congressional panel's decision to approve a bill describing the World War I-era killings of Armenians as genocide, an official said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Bilman said ambassador Nabi Sensoy would stay in Turkey for a week or 10 days for discussions regarding the vote, which came despite warnings by Turkish officials and U.S. President George W. Bush's administration that the bill could harm U.S.-Turkish relations.
"We are not withdrawing our ambassador. We have asked him to come to Turkey for some consultations," Bilman said. "The ambassador was given instructions to return and will come at his earliest convenience."
Earlier, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, was invited to the Foreign Ministry, where Turkish officials conveyed their "unease" over the bill, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the bill by a 27-21 vote, threatening to harm relations that are already tense as Turkey considers staging a military offensive into Iraq against Kurdish rebels who have hideouts there. The United States fears such an operation could destabilize one of the few relatively peaceful areas in the country
So, is this really about justice for some long dead Armenians, or is it about making Turkey say, forget the US and what they want, and go in and destabilize Iraq? It is an interesting question...and I am just putting it out there.....
