The U.S. administration expects Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to participate in an international security summit in Washington set for next month.


U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and underlined that Erdoğan’s participation is expected in the International Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Washington on April 12 and 13 and that his attendance carries great importance in every respect, Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Özügergin said in a written statement released Monday.

“Davutoğlu stated that the evaluation process on this subject was still continuing and that Prime Minister Erdoğan would make his final decision on this matter in the coming days,” Özügergin added.

The main agenda of the telephone conversation, which took place upon the request of the U.S. side, according to the spokesman, was the Armenian “genocide” resolution that passed a U.S. congressional committee early this month.

Turkish officials said after the telephone conversation that there was a 50 percent chance that Erdoğan would travel to the U.S., adding that Ankara awaits strong signals from the United States regarding the Armenian resolution and assurance from Washington about the Turkish-Armenian protocols following the ruling of the Armenian top court.

Officials said if Erdoğan decides to go to Washington and is accompanied by his foreign minister, there could be a meeting with the Armenian diaspora.
Clinton stated that she understood Davutoğlu’s concerns, and stressed that the U.S. administration is opposed both to the House Foreign Affair Committee’s decision and to further action on the “genocide” bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the ministry.