Officials warn of potential fallout of "genocide" resolution before US congress

Turkey expects the US House Foreign Relations Committee to defeat a resolution calling the incidents of 1915 a "genocide," Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin said yesterday, warning that passing the resolution would not only harm Turkish-US relations but also threaten the ongoing Turkish-Armenian rapprochement process. Turkey regrets that the resolution which supports the baseless "genocide" allegations will be discussed by the committee, Ozugergin said, adding that they have conveyed Turkey 's concerns over the resolution to US officials. "We would like to believe that members of the committee are well aware of the fact that passing such a resolution would deal a serious blow to not only Turkish-US relations but also to efforts to bring peace and stability to the Southern Caucasus," he added. "We want to believe that members of the committee will act with common sense and responsibility." Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek echoed Ozugergin, warning of the negative fallout on Turkish-US ties that passage of the resolution would have. "It would also ruin efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia , thus undermining peace and stability in the Caucasus ," Cicek said, calling on US lawmakers to consider this when they vote.