09/03/2010 Turkey said on Tuesday that Ankara is not ready to send its ambassador back to Washington after a US Congress panel branded the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.
"As long as the situation does not get any clearer we will not send back our ambassador to Washington," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists in Riyadh.
"America should not let go of a strategic ally like Turkey over such an issue," he added, describing the US House Foreign Affairs Committee's decision as "a comedy stunt."
An infuriated Turkey recalled its ambassador Namik Tan on Thursday, shortly after the panel narrowly approved the non-binding resolution. The decision now opens the door for a vote at the full House of Representatives.
In a bid to limit the fallout of the committee's decision, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday the administration would "work very hard" to stop the resolution from going before the full house.
The resolution calls on President Barack Obama to ensure that US foreign policy reflects an understanding of the "genocide" and to label the mass killings as such in his annual statement on the issue.
Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label, arguing that between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks were killed in civil strife when Armenians rose up for independence and sided with invading Russian forces.
Following US-backed bridge-building talks, Turkey and Armenia signed a deal last October to establish diplomatic relations and open their border. But the process has already hit the rocks, with Ankara accusing Yerevan of trying to tweak the terms of the deal and Yerevan charging that Ankara is not committed to ratifying the accord.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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