Tension continues to escalate between the United States and Turkey following a House committee vote calling the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide. The commander of Turkey’s armed forces warned that U.S.-Turkish military relations will be irreparably damaged if the full U.S. House of Representatives approves the resolution. Turkey has been one of the closest U.S. allies in the region. Seventy percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey. The White House has opposed the genocide resolution and has dispatched a diplomatic team to Turkey to deal with the crisis.

Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman: “We had a good and constructive discussion in which our colleagues expressed the disappointment and the hurt of both the government of Turkey and the Turkish public.”