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Turkish parliamentarians visit US to lobby against the â€œArmenian genocideâ€ bill

02 March 2010 12:26 (UTC +04:00)

Members of the Turkish Parliamentâ€™s Foreign Affairs Committee and the Turkey-US Parliamentary Friendship Group are expected to lobby in the US capital starting March 1.
Suat KÄ±nÄ±klÄ±oglu, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKPâ€™s, vice president for foreign relations, described the upcoming vote as â€œa misfortuneâ€ showing â€œlack of foresightâ€ while the normalization processes between Turkey and Armenia is still underway.
â€œThe Armenian diaspora in the US attempted [to pass this bill] in 2007, but failed. The bill was passed through the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, but failed to pass in Congress,â€ KÄ±nÄ±klÄ±oÄŸlu told reporters. â€œWe are planning to prevent the billâ€™s ratification by the committee. In case of failure, we will attempt [to lobby] Congress to not vote for this bill.â€
The AKP official called the timing of the vote â€œabsurd and inappropriateâ€ in regard to existing Turkey-U.S. relations. â€œWe hope our efforts will prevent this risky attempt, which may damage bilateral relations,â€ he said. â€œWe act in unity as government, opposition and NGOs in the US.â€