Turkey's presidential spox meets US House delegation

By Kaan Bozdogan

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey’s Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin met Saturday a delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives in Istanbul.

Kalin and the delegation met at Dolmabahce Palace to discuss regional developments, bilateral ties, fight against terrorism, establishment of safe zone in Syria, and political solution process in the civil war-weary country.

The parties also stressed the strategic importance of Turkey-U.S. ties during the meeting, which reiterated that Turkey’s rightful fight against terror groups Daesh/ISIS and PKK/PYD/YPG will continue with determination.

Highlighting the discomfort caused by a draft resolution and a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this week, the meeting also touched Turkey’s efforts for safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.

It is noted that the international community should also take responsibility for the return of Syrians.

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian claims on the 1915 events in Ottoman era.

Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as "genocide" but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia plus international experts to examine the issue.

The House on Tuesday also passed a bill to impose sanctions on Turkey over its Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria, which was launched last month to clear the region of terrorist elements and help repatriate Syrian refugees in Turkey there.

*Writing by Sena Guler