WASHINGTON D.C. - U.S. Department of State expressed its sorrow over approval of a resolution regarding Armenian allegations on the incidents of 1915 by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Sean McCormack, spokesman for the U.S. Department of States, said in a statement they regretted that the resolution was passed by the committee and sent to the House of Representatives.
"The U.S. administration maintains its strong opposition to this resolution, passage of which may do grave harm to U.S.- Turkish relations and to U.S. interests in Europe and the Middle East," he said.
McCormack also added that the bill will not improve relations between Turkey and Armenia, and will not help efforts to make a progress between Turks and Armenians to reach a compromise over the 1915 incidents.
Meanwhile, U.S. Under Secretary for political Affairs Nicholas Burns said, "the U.S. administration was deeply disappointed by the vote but hoped Turkey, one of our most valued and important allies, would not retaliate."
"We hope very much that the disappointment can be limited to statements and not extend to anything concrete that would interfere with the very good way that we have been working with the Turks for many years," he told reporters after approval of the resolution.
""We need to continue to be able to work together effectively," said Burns, adding that Turkey had not made any specific threats before the vote over Incirlik or other areas of cooperation between the two countries.
Burns said secretary Rice planned to call her Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan early on Thursday.
"We will obviously impress upon the Turkish leadership our deep disappointment and the fact that we opposed this resolution and that the administration worked very, very hard to produce a different kind of vote," he said.
Noting that Turkey has opened the Ottoman archives to researches and proposed Armenia to set up a joint committee of historians, Burns added that there are better and more constructive ways to make a progress.