RICE AND GATES WARN U.S. CONGRESS ON ARMENIAN DRAFT

Turkish Press
March 16 2007

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned in joint identical letters
the leaders of the U.S House of Representatives regarding the draft
resolution on so-called Armenian genocide.

In the letters Rice and Gates said, "adoption of this draft will damage
the efforts to support reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia."

The joint identical letters, pointing to the difficulties which
the Armenian draft resolution would cause, were sent to House of
Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Rep. John Boehner, leader of
the House`s Republican minority; and Rep. Tom Lantos, the Democrat
who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

According to AP News Agency, Rice and Gates in the letter dated March
7th, said the United States is encouraging "our friends in Turkey to
re-examine their past with honesty and to reconcile with Armenia, as
well as security and stability in the broader Middle East and Europe."

Rice and Gates warned the members of the House of Representatives of
repercussions of such a vote, and reminded that Turkish army terminated
defense contracts under negotiation following passage of a resolution
in the French National Assembly last October.

The letter said, "passage of such a resolution could harm American
troops in the field, constrain our ability to supply our troops in
Iraq and Afghanistan and significantly damage our efforts to promote
reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey."

On the other hand, in an interview with The Associated Press the U.S.
Special Representative for Countering Terrorism general Joseph Ralston
said "this is an incredibly sensitive issue inside Turkey, and what
we are trying to encourage the Turks to have is meaningful reform of
their dealings with Armenia."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress