PM Erdogan urges US congress to turn back " genocide" resolution

Speaking to reporters over the weekend, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had already cautioned both the US Congress and the US administration not to take any steps that would undermine ongoing normalization efforts between Ankara and Yerevan , alluding to a resolution on the so-called Armenian "genocide" allegations now pending before a key US House committee. Asked about dialogue between Ankara and Washington over the issue, Erdogan said that there has been constant senior-level contact, adding that two separate parliamentary delegations are now in Washington ahead of Thursday's committee vote. A group from Parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission led by its chairman, Murat Mercan, and members of the Turkish-US Interparliamentary Friendship Group led by its head, Suat Kiniklioglu, will meet with US officials and legislators this week. "Our stance is clear," said Erdogan. "There is a process that began in Switzerland (last year with normalization protocols signed by Turkey and Armenia ). Our stance is also continuing on this process. That is to say, I believe that we will get results if this stance is maintained on both sides." But he warned, "If a misstep is taken there (in the US ) on March 4, or on April 24, it will torpedo this process. It would be a misstep. I believe members of Congress will, in all possible ways, consider the sensitivity of this."