TURKISH MPS WARN US CONGRESSMEN ABOUT ADOPTING ARMENIAN BILL
Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Feb 20 2007
Brussels, 20 February: Turkish parliamentary delegation that is
currently in Brussels to attend NATO Parliamentary Assembly meetings
sent messages of warning to their US counterparts on the draft
resolution about so-called Armenian genocide.
Vahit Erdem, head of the delegation, said in his letter to John Tanner,
head of the US parliamentary delegation, "We attribute great importance
to friendly relations between Turkey and the United States. Any attempt
that may harm those relations in a complicated period following the
Cold War era should be avoided."
"Approval of the draft resolution by the US Congress will disrupt
the bilateral relations. In that case, Turkey-US relations will
be seriously damaged. By making such a political judgment, the US
Congress will make a big mistake," he said.
Erdem stressed that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had
earlier proposed Armenia to form a committee of historians and open
all archives but Armenian party did not give a response.
Meanwhile, Turkey-US Interparliamentary Friendship Group Chairman
Egemen Bagis held a series of talks with US congressmen on the
same issue.
Bagis said that the congressmen understood the importance of the
matter and pledged to explain it to their colleagues when they return
to Washington, DC.