Turkey to Clear IMF Debt by May
ISTANBUL (AFP) - Turkey is set to make a "clean break" with the International Monetary Fund by paying off its remaining debt by May, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. "We have been paying and paying... Right now the debt stands at $860 million (643 million euros)," Erdogan said in televised remarks. "When we pay the last slice in May, we will zero out the debt and make a clean break," he added. Erdogan said his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which took over a $23.5 billion IMF debt when it came to power in 2002, was in talks to loan five billion dollars to the the global institution.
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WASHINGTON- US State Department stated Ambassador Ricciardone only reiterated what Clinton had said earlier. The Spokesperson for the US State Department, Victoria Nuland said that US Ambassador in Ankara, Francis Ricciardone only reiterated what former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had said on several Turkish court cases.
Relations between Turkey and the United States are expected to enter a new and intensified hectic period amid ongoing regional crises, such as Syria’s turmoil and Iran’s controversial nuclear drive, amid Democrat Barack Obama’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections.
On May 16, 2012, as a result of the Pax Turcica annual action to recognize the 94th anniversary of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the Governor of the State of Rhode Island, Lincoln D. Chafee, issued a formal proclamation (citation) greeting the people of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani community in Rhode Island. This recognition by the Rhode Island Governor was received by and due to the efforts of Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC) representative in Rhode Island and a long-time Pax Turcica activist, Zikret Hasan. 
Turkish President Abdullah Gul and his US counterpart, Barack Obama, met in Chicago on Monday on the sidelines of NATO Summit but they failed to make progress on the sale of armed drones. Turkey seeks to buy armed drones from the United States, but the request has been controversial, with some in Congress refusing to sell the aircraft to Turkey given Ankara's deteriorating relations with Israel, a close US ally. The US administration, on the other hand, is reportedly willing to sell the drones to Turkey and is trying to persuade Congress not to block the sale.
Turkey's Ambassador to the United States, Namik Tan, responded to harsh criticisms of U.S. Representative Howard Berman on Cyprus in a letter the latter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently. "Having read your letter to the U.S. Secretary of State, the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, regarding Cyprus, I would like to take this opportunity to answer the allegations and concerns expressed in your letter, which was made public through various American-Greek organizations and news outlets," Tan told Berman in a letter sent. 
As the 32nd Annual Turkish-American National Convention began in Washington on Thursday, participants of the event urged Turkish-Americans to effectively participate in US politics to make their voices more widely heard. The convention was jointly organized by the Federation of Turkish American Associations (TADF), the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) and the Washington-based Turkish American Community Centers (TACC). The event began with a seminar titled “Grassroots Day,” hosted by the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA). 
Two US senators are set to introduce a resolution that labels the 1915 killing of Armenians during the last days of the Ottoman Empire as “genocide,” the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) has said. The AAA said in a statement on Monday that Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) along with Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) will officially introduce the measure later this month. Specifically, the statement highlighted the fact that “the Roman persecution of the Christians, the Turkish massacre of Armenians, the extermination of millions of Jews and Poles by the Nazis are outstanding examples of the crime of genocide.” 
BAKU. February 28, 2012: Former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza retired from government service at U.S. Department of State and moved with his family to Turkey. Currently, he works at a Turkish bank in Istanbul, an informed source told Turan. In his interview with the Turkish media, Bryza reiterated that "he fell victim to the Armenian Diaspora,” which could not forgive him for marrying an American woman of Turkish origin, Zeyno Baran. 
France's Constitutional Council has ruled that a law concerning the mass killings of Armenians a century ago violates the country's constitution. The law, passed in December, made it a crime to deny that the killings of some 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted genocide. Punishment under the legislation was set at up to one year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros. 
