Genocide Resolution’s passing in the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs will lead to deterioration in U.S.-Turkey relations only bringing new problems, said U.S. House Representative Ed Whitfield.

According to TRT, Whitfield stated that he was very disappointed with the resolution. “Unfortunately, the issue became topical when Armenia and Turkey are negotiating, and the responsibility for the issue resolution was pinned with historians and the necessity of opening the archives was acknowledged,” Whitfield stated. He also added that nonbinding discussion of the resolution is waste of time. The official underlined that resolution was considered by the House members in the past, but was not approved. “Obama shows no initiative on the matter, he does not try to block resolution adoption. I believe he makes a big mistake upholding this position. It is generally known that Obama paid one of his first official visits to Turkey after being elected. Turkey is a critical NATO member and has military contingent in Afghanistan. There is also U.S. base on the territory of Turkey, let alone the fact Ankara is a major trade partner for the U.S.,” he emphasized.

The congressman cited UK’s attitude about the Genocide as an example, saying that “UK safeguards neutrality on the issue.”

A.G.