James B. Steinberg
A senior US official has expressed regret over the Turkish government’s decision to recall its ambassador in a show of protest against a House committee resolution labeling the 1915 killings of Armenians as genocide.
“The decision to recall the ambassador is regrettable; we have a policy of engagement and I hope Turkey has the same policy with the US,” James B. Steinberg, the No. 2 official at the US State Department, said Monday in an address to the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, D.C.
“I think whatever the differences with Congress on this issue, it is important that we engage and that we talk about these areas,” he said.
An infuriated Turkey recalled Ambassador Namık Tan shortly after the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a resolution calling on President Barack Obama to ensure that US foreign policy reflects an acknowledgment of the Armenian genocide and to label the 1915 killings as such in his annual statement.
Public Radio of Armenia
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