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| Since the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the so-called Armenian “genocide” bill, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Turkey would not return its Ambassador to the United States, Namik Tan, until it obtained a clear position from the U.S. administration. On March 4, the Committee passed the bill on Armenian allegations regarding the incidents of 1915 in a vote of 23-22. After passing this resolution, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that it might be some time before Namik Tan returns to Washington. Prime Minister Erdogan also implied that Namik Tan would stay in Ankara for a while unless certain steps are taken. After receiving the “King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam” at a ceremony held in Riyadh on Wednesday, Erdogan made statements to journalists on various topics. He said that the Committee’s approval of the draft is quite upsetting to Turkey and that the Committee’s attitude while adopting the draft was improper. Erdogan believes that the U.S. will not sacrifice its strategic partnership with Turkey for the sake of simple political calculations. He said that the attitude of the U.S. in the next period would be quite important for Turkey. Erdogan said, "We will assess the situation with a long-term perspective. We will not send our ambassador back if we do not see the consequences clearly." |