TURKEY IS GOING TO PUNISH U.S. IF CONGRESS WILL DARE TO RAISE GENOCIDE ISSUE

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.03.2007 17:11 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian is worried
about high-level Turkish lobbying against a proposed congressional
resolution that would recognize as Genocide the early 20th century
killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians. In the interview to The
Associated Press the RA FM stated, "Governments should stay away from
meddling in these matters. But when topics of interest for Armenia
are being discussed, we cannot remain as a government indifferent,
particularly in light of Turkish lobbying at a government level." He
also stressed that "the Turkish warnings are an attempt to silence
critics of Turkey’s position on genocide abroad as it has domestically
through its penal code." "Now Turks are traveling to punish the United
States if the U.S. Congress dares to speak out about the Armenian
Genocide," the Armenian FM stated. Oskanian said he discussed the
resolution with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Monday’s
meeting.