Turkey's leader asks Obama to thwart genocide vote
Washington Post, AP story, December 20, 2010
ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey's prime minister has asked the U.S. president to prevent a possible House vote on a resolution declaring the World War I-era killings of Armenians a genocide.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told parliament on Monday that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had sent U.S. President Barack Obama a letter asking he prevent the vote, saying it could damage ties between the two allies.
Davutoglu said: "we cannot allow the resolution to hang over Turkish-US ties like a Sword of Damocles."
A vote could take place before Democrats hand over leadership of the House to Republicans next month.
Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide.
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