DOHA, Qatar (Combined Sources)—A brawl broke out between a top-ranking Turkish official and a US ambassador on Sunday during talks between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Qatari capital of Doha, the Turkish Today’s Zaman Reported.
According to official’s, Erdogan and Clinton had met to discuss Turkey-Armenia relations, Iran, Cyprus peace talks, the Middle East, the war on terror, economic ties, and Iraq.
The fight was reported to have broken out between the US ambassador to Qatar and an advisor to the Turkish prime minister at the end of the meeting between Clinton and Erdogan.
The altercation took place after the US envoy entered the room to remind those present to close the meeting as the time was over.
In response, Erdogan’s adviser said, “It is not for you to judge the importance of our meeting, you offend our country,” Zaman quoted the official as saying.
The quarrel led to physical confrontation and the two diplomats were separated, but with difficulty, the paper added.
The Meeting
Diplomatic sources said Turkey’s rapprochement with Armenia and Iran’s nuclear program were heavily focused on during the meeting. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will visit Iran on Monday. He has said he is optimistic about further diplomatic steps.
Armenia’s constitutional court’s decision was also discussed at the meeting. The Turkish delegation said Turkey had fulfilled its responsibilities and that the Armenian court’s ruling had hampered the process.
The Turkish delegation also emphasized that Turkey considered the Armenian issue a part of the normalization process in the Caucasus and called on the Minsk Group to undertake a more active role.
The parties highlighted the importance of the continuation of the negotiation process in Cyprus.
They also agreed that cooperation in the fight against terrorism should be maintained.
Turkish State Minister Zafer Caglayan will pay an official visit to the United States in the coming weeks under an economic partnership program between the two countries.
During the meeting, Clinton said she shared Erdogan’s sensitivity about the situation in Gaza.
Only a people so chauvinistically possessed with the notion of “their country” can nitpick whether they were insulted or not by the mere fact that media appearances, meetings, and diplomatic deliberations are all bound by the concept of time limits. This is an example of Turkish supremacy being manifested itself as caprices.
Armenians must really try to understand what is USA’s stake in this deal. I believe, the USA’s interest is much more than energy and security in the region. Never before USA had been this much determine in Armenia’s affair. There could be a different kind of cold war is going on between USA and rest of the world.
Turkey can never ever & will not ever join the European Union. This article is clear evidence of their barbarism & lack of evolution. Turkey should stop wasting it’s time & start improving relations with Palestinians, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan & other such 3rd world countries which are more in their league.
The Armenian genocide has been recognized in Wales, Scotland & Ireland. Gordon Brown has already hinted that the England’s parliament will be recognizing it too, very shortly. Sweden will also recognize it this April, as will the USA.
Long live Israel, Armenia, Kurdistan, Greece & Cyprus.
Everybody recognizes the ARMENIAN GENOCIDE,except the turks, who have been LYING so long, and are so stupid,don’t know the TRUTH.
The average IQ in Turkey is 90. This means that half the population is below the ‘slow’ threshold. This explains a lot about the ineptitude that I had observed here as an expat.
‘Altercation and physical confrontation.’ If turkish politicians and delegates are thugs and behave in this manner in the 21st century, then you can imagine what they did to the poor unarmed Armenians durinng the Armenian Genocide in the first Holocaust of the 20th century. The USA must pass the Genocide Bill ASAP. There is no question about it.
isn’t it just amazing being able to observe and read body language. Erdogan, your mom should have told you to not spread your legs open when sitting down. Interesting how clinton is reacting to his posture.
Secretary Clinton, would you please elaborate on the ‘sensitivity” about the situation in Gaza that you share with erdogan? Is that the same sensitivity that you shared with the Armenian American voters? Ever wondered why you lost the bid to be the nominee in 2008?
Hye, proof the Otttman bullying mentality exists. Manooshag
If an American Government Official is being humiliated by being told “who do you think you are” by a Turkish government official… You can understand there is truth about Turkish Government having chip on their shoulder to U.S.A. and are daring. You can imagine their (hidden) mentality toward American Government, what is like!!
Araxi jan, it is true that you said imagine how horribly the Turks behaved with poor Armenian 1.5 Million civilian souls from 1915 thru 1923. They used to torture Armenians by separating their skin on their heads then putting ants and closing the skins back to further agonyzing them in horrible hellish pain before their journey to heaven. They would pull every healthy tooth from their mouth, then put boiled eggs under their armpits, cut their noses and ears and blind them before beheading them or throwing them in blazing fires while they were alive. I saw a picture of 19 gorgeous Armenian teenagers and young adult girls nailed on crosses and vouchers placed above their heads. They were totally naked, their heads forward with very long black hair partially covering their naked bodies. My grandmother said that in Smyrna they cut by sword the arms of hundreds of children and let them run wild in agonyzing pain. The turk gendarmes and criminals who were let go of turkish prisons to do all these atrocities; they used to throw young beautiful Armenian young girls up in the air while their swords were waiting at the bottom to kill them an agonyzing death. The horrifying agonyzing death marches were another stories, untold, unimaginable tortures, rapes and barbaric killings while the poor Armenian souls were walking hungry, thirsty, without shoes and without hats, while the Kurdish towns looted the poor women and children stealing their clothes and whatever belongings that they had before they were brutally killed or thrown in the rivers of Yeprad or Dikris. While in the northern parts of Armenia by the Black Sea; they used to tie them together, then take them to the deep seas and throw them in the Black sea. That’s how they killed over 300,000 Armenians, just in the norther parts of Western Armenia. The horrible faiths that those poor souls had to endure before death were truly unimaginable horrifyingly painful deaths. How can the world be so cruel to turn deaf ear to our pleas to at the very least accept the mere fact that indeed it was a GENOCIDE.
This American was not of Armenian or Greek ancestry by any chance? No, probably just a loud mouthed good ole boy from Texas.
Patientia est a donum superum.
American envoy has no right to unilaterally tell a higher level meeting officials that time is over, it is not a classroom and these kinds of things are/should be mutually decided in pre-meeting preparations. Turkish guy is right to tell this arrogant stupid American that it is not his place to decide. Being part of European Union is not that all Turkish wants, it is small minority and Turkey should be proud of having independent foreign policy and not being dog of americans like EU
How do you know that it is a guy? The article says, “… top-ranking Turkish official”.
Way to go Turkish official, The US ambassador and envoy had NO right to intervene in the meeting by their superiors. This is above their authority. The Turkish official simply put him in his place. We KNOW that Turkey will NEVER be part of EU, we simply want to hear it officially. But Europe is gutless! They are too afraid that if they do say anything to that effect they are going to further polarise the East from the West. So be it. Turkey has ALL the resources and capabilities to concentrate their effort on strengthening the rest of Middle-East and the rest of the Turkic countries in the region. Remember those? And THIS is what the West is afraid of….Remember the Ottoman bullies and what they did for a good part 600 years? Guess what…WE’RE BACK! And we’re EVERYWHERE. Like Erdogan said, the domes of mosques, our helmets, the minarets, our spears, and those believers who go in and pray, THE SOILDERS. We will not subjugate ourselves to the pathetic whims of American attempts of policing the region.
The usual idiotic turkish BS, i see.