ANKARA — A delegation
from the U.S. House of Representatives took part in a series of bilateral meetings yesterday in Ankara. The U.S. lawmakers, led by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, were received by Parliament Speaker Cemil Ciçek. Çiçek and Boehner talked about the Armenian genocide bill that increase tension between the two countries. Boehner later met Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a meeting closed to the media and the delegation was expected to meet with President Abdullah Gül late last night.
In addition to Boehner, Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Representative John Kline, Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources Representative Doc Hastings, House Committee on Energy and Commerce and chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Representative Greg Walden, and Representative Steve Womack of the House Committee on Appropriations, travelled to Turkey. The American lawmakers were accompanied by AK Party Deputies and U.S.-Turkey Parliamentary Friendship Group Member Nursuna Memecan.
After the meeting with the U.S. delegation, Çicek said lawmakers discussed bilateral relations and Armenian genocide allegations. Regarding the resolution on the alleged Armenian genocide introduced to the U.S.
Congress, Çicek said, "Parliaments should build the future today and should leave history to historians. We are ready to confront our history. Scientists, historians, whoever knows anything and whoever has something to say should investigate this matter. If the parliaments began to make decisions on historical events, this may harm bilateral relations and friendship." Boehner emphasized that representatives involved in the resolution are lawmakers and not historians. Pointing to his 24 years career in the House of Representatives, Boehner said that Armenian genocide claims popped up on the agenda of the lower house from time to time. "Our congress will not get involved in this issue. We are not writing history. We are also not historians," said Boehner.
