Turkish envoy says US vote not victory for Armenia

Ambassador Tan said he had to return to Turkey on Friday under a decision of the government.

Tan's remarks came after the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs acknowledged Armenian allegations.

"I will consult with my government, and you will see how and when I will return here after I get necessary instructions and according to course of developments," Tan told a press conference in Washington, D.C..

Tan expressed deep sorrow over adoption of the resolution on so-called Armenian allegations.

"What we lost today is also away from being a victory for the other side," he said.

Also speaking in the press conference, Sukru Elekdag, a lawmaker from the Republican People's Party (CHP), said, "they won with only one vote, however I think they have not won it in a proud way and they have lost much from their prestige, esteem and pride."

Elekdag said the U.S. administration had not strongly objected to the resolution.

"If the administration had extended a little bit more support to us, this resolution would have been prevented," he said.

Elekdag said it was wrong to show reaction and flare up at first but it was important to retain the reaction.

Mithat Melen of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) was another Turkish lawmaker who travelled to the United States to lobby against the resolution.

Melen said Turkey should not "take urgent decisions" but "should decide after thinking calmly and without exaggerating the situation".

The committee approved the resolution on incidents of 1915 --which took place shortly before the fall of the Ottoman State-- with 23 votes against 22.

Turkey strongly rejects the genocide allegations and regards the events as civil strife in wartime which claimed lives of many Turks and Armenians.

Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols last October to normalize relations, however, parliaments of the two countries has not passed them yet.

Every year between March 4 and April 24 alarm bells ring for relations between Turkey and U.S., two close allies for decades.

The Armenian lobbies in the U.S. pressure the U.S. legislators to pass a resolution urging the President to recognise the events as genocide.

Turkish legislators and officials pay visits to U.S. House and hold meetings with senior U.S. officials and businessmen to prevent the resolution from being adopted.

A similar resolution was adopted with 27 seven votes against 21 in 2007 but as a result of former President George W. Bush's intervention, the resolution was not brought to the full house.


/World Bulletin/