ANKARA, Turkey, March 24 (UPI) -- Ankara halted efforts to expand defense, trade and energy ties with Washington in the wake of a U.S. measure declaring Ottoman-era killings an act of genocide.
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs narrowly passed a non-binding resolution March 4 that classifies the 1915 killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire an act of genocide. The measure passed despite a last-minute plea by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Ankara contends the events in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed during World War I were exaggerated and says the genocide classification wasn't a matter for U.S. lawmakers to decide.
Zafer Caglayan, the Turkish minister for foreign trade, told the Financial Times that Ankara halted its effort to expand trade relations with the United States in part because of the genocide resolution.
"All steps taken so far are at a halt," he said.
Direct trade between Turkey and the United States is focused on arms and aerospace.
Ankara recalled its ambassador to Washington in the wake of the resolution. The trade-focused American-Turkish Council, meanwhile, is delaying an annual conference because of the measure.
The Turkish government warned that passage of the measure could unsettle bilateral cooperation in the region, including key support from Ankara in the U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ankara's relationship with Tehran could be a factor as well.
