Kerry To Chide Turkish PM Over Zionism Comments
ANKARA | Fri Mar 1, 2013 10:34am EST
(Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to take Turkey's prime minister to task for describing Zionism as a crime against humanity, an attack on a key U.S. ally that has overshadowed their talks on the crisis in neighboring Syria.
Kerry, on his first trip to a Muslim nation since taking office, is meeting Turkish leaders for talks meant to focus on Syria's civil war and bilateral interests from energy security to counter-terrorism.
But comment by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at a U.N. meeting in Vienna this week, condemned by his Israeli counterpart, the White House and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has clouded his trip.
"This was particularly offensive, frankly, to call Zionism a crime against humanity ... It does have a corrosive effect (on relations)," a senior U.S. official told reporters as Kerry flew to Ankara.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/01/us-usa-turkey-idUSBRE9200EB20130301