Israel worried by U.S. debate but tries to deflect pressure from Turkey to take its side

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Israel's government expressed concern Thursday over the U.S. congressional debate on the mass killings of ethnic Armenians in Turkey 90 years ago, but tried to deflect pressure from Turkey to take its side in the dispute," said Marc Regev, a Spokesman for Israeli Foreign Ministry.



"We take the Turkish concerns very seriously. We have an excellent relationship with Turkey," Regev said.



He declined to discuss Israel's response or say whether Israel would ask its allies in Washington to intervene. In recent months a leading Jewish group, the Anti-Defamation League, changed its policy and declared the Armenian killings "tantamount to genocide," angering Turks.



Israel's government has said previously that massacres were perpetrated against Armenians and expressed sympathy for their suffering. But it stopped short of calling it genocide. Regev said Thursday that "there is no change" in Israel's policy, the AP reports.