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Reading Turkey's Signals
By Judah Grunstein
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05 Mar 2010
Turkey's decision to recall its ambassador in Washington for discussions following yesterday's passage of the Armenian
Genocide bill by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs is understandably getting quite a bit of attention. But in what is likely to be the overlooked counterbalance to that decision, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said today that Ankara
remained determined to normalize relations with Armenia,
although he acknowledged that parliamentary ratification of recently
signed protocols was not guaranteed.
The recall of
the ambassador signals Turkey's willingness to flex its diplomatic
muscles, which the Obama administration currently has need of in addressing Iran's nuclear program, as well as in Iraq. But the move is mainly pre-emptive, and meant to test whether the
Obama administration is willing and able to keep the Armenian Genocide bill from advancing
further.
Davutoglu's statement today indicates that whatever damage has
been done is limited and reversible. It also signals that rapprochement
with Armenia is in Turkey's interests, independent of its bilateral
relations with the U.S.