Turkish MFA Criticizes Passage of H.Res.354; ANCA Says Ankara’s ‘Free Pass’ in D.C. Has Been Revoked

ANKARA, Turkey (A.W.)—Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ambassador Hüseyin Müftüoğlu criticized the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of H.Res.354 on June 6, which condemns the May 16 attack by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bodyguards against peaceful protesters in Washington D.C. The spokesperson’s comments came on June 7 in response to a question regarding the resolution.

(L to R) Hüseyin Müftüoğlu and Aram Hamparian

“The steps taken by the U.S. legislative branches to distort and politicize the matter are not constructive,” said the spokesperson, who added that the resolution was against the “spirit of alliance and partnership” between Turkey and the U.S.

“Erdogan’s claiming that Congressional condemnation of the attack he ordered on American protesters runs counter to the spirit of Turkey’s alliance with the U.S.—but what he’s really voicing is his frustration that the free pass that Ankara has long enjoyed here in Washington has been revoked,” Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian said in his comments to the Armenian Weekly.

“As much as he might like a resurrect Ankara’s old arrangements, its clear today that U.S. policy-makers—from both parties and in both the legislative and executive branches—won’t countenance a return to the days when Turkey crossed every line, confident that America would remain silent about its sins,” Hamparian added.

The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed H.Res.354 on June 6, which  called for “”the perpetrators to be brought to justice and measures to be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.” The resolution passed with a vote of 397 for and none against.

H.Res.354, spearheaded by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.), Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), was adopted unanimously by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on May 25. The measure had also received the public backing of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).