Turkish PM: Washington trip unlikely

In an indication that diplomatic tensions continue between Ankara and Washington, Turkey’s prime minister has signaled that he is unlikely to participate in the international energy summit U.S. President Barack Obama will host in April.

Following a U.S. House committee’s passing of a resolution March 4 recognizing the deaths of Armenians in 1915 as “genocide,” observers have been waiting to see if Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will attend the Nuclear Security Summit in the United States on April 12.

“We don’t have a scheduled visit to the U.S.,” Erdoğan told reporters late Monday before departing for London. “We have received only an invitation, which is routine. A colleague of ours may participate, but we have not yet assigned a specific person.”

Erdoğan’s hesitation did not come as a surprise to observers in Ankara, especially after the prime minister cancelled a visit to Stockholm following the approval of a similar resolution by the Swedish parliament.

“I think Erdoğan will not announce his final decision until the last moment. Unless President Obama assures Ankara that the U.S. Congress will not approve the genocide bill, he will not go to Washington,” a source close to the prime minister told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Tuesday.

In protest of the two resolutions, Ankara recalled its ambassadors to both Stockholm and Washington, D.C., last week.

During a recent visit to Riyadh, Erdoğan said: “I don’t believe the U.S. would sacrifice a strategic partner such as Turkey for such trivial political calculations. We have nothing to say if they take the risk.”

At the time, Erdoğan appeared wary of returning his ambassador to Washington.

“We will assess the situation in the broadest meaning; we have to,” he said. “As long as we don’t see the results [Turkey desires], we will not be sending our ambassador back to the U.S.”

Energy Minister Taner Yıldız also said Tuesday that Turkey has made no final decision about whether to join the upcoming nuclear summit in the U.S. capital.

“That’s why we will be following further developments. Later we will discuss the issue with Mr. Prime Minister,” Yıldız told reporters.

The energy minister said he still hoped for “a positive development in relation to the 1915 events” – meaning that the full U.S. Congress would not ultimately approve the Armenian “genocide” resolution.

Highlighting a U.S.-Turkish joint plan to drill for oil in the Black Sea, Yıldız said: “I don’t think any outside effect will damage these joint projects. We will continue our collaboration, but we also believe that this wrongdoing [by the U.S. House committee] will be corrected.”


/Hurriyet Daily News/