MRT online, Macedonia –
March 23 2007

Rice: We shouldn’t get involved in Turkey-Armenian dispute
Friday, 23 March 2007
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the U.S.
should not get involved in a dispute between Turkey and Armenia over
whether the killing of Armenians almost a century ago constituted
genocide. Under questioning from the sponsor of a House resolution
that would recognize that Turkey’s Ottoman predecessor state
committed a "genocide," Rice avoided answering whether she believed
there was any basis for historical debate on the matter.

"What we’ve encouraged the Turks and the Armenians to do is to have
joint historical commissions that can look at this, to have efforts
to examine their past, and in examining their past to get over it,"
she told the House Appropriations Subcommittee.

"I don’t think it helps that process of reconciliation for the United
States to enter this debate at that level."

A resolution on the so-called Armenian genocide was also introduced
in the U.S Senate last week. The resolution was drawn up by Democrat
Richard Durbin and Republican John Essington. Senators John Kerry,
Edward Kennedy and Joe Lieberman also signed onto it. However some
traditional supporters of the claims, including presidential hopefuls
Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama and Joseph Biden, have not signed the
resolution this time. A total of 21 out of 100 senators have declared
their support for the resolution.