[09/March/2010]

ANKARA, March 9 (Saba) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruled out Tuesday the return of Turkey's Ambassador to the US before making sure that a draft law which acknowledged Armenia's claims that Ottomans massacred the Armenians would not be approved by the US Congress, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

The foreign relations committee at the US Congress approved a bill last week which recognized the Armenian claims that Ottomans committed genocides against the Armenians in 1915. The bill forced the Turkish government to recall its Ambassador in Washington Nameq Tan.

"We will not send our ambassador back unless we get a clear signal of the situation regarding the draft law of the Armenian claims," Anadolu news agency quoted Erdogan, currently Saudi Arabia, as saying.

Erdogan said that US President Barack Obama pledged to confront the draft law because the Administration realized the harm that would result from approval of the bill.

The foreign relations committee approved the bill in a 23-22 vote despite pressure by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to thwart the bill.

The Turkish opposition, since the adoption of the bill, called for the closure of Incirlik airbase and scrapping an arms deal from the US.

Saba