US Assistant Secretary of State on Europe and Eurasian Affairs: The Turkish
Government has never
Arminfo
2007-04-16 10:40:00
US Assistant Secretary of State on Europe and Eurasian Affairs Daniel
Fried said when replying to ArmInfo correspondent’s question over the
press conference in Washington that the Turkish Government has never
blackmailed or threatened the U.S. Government in case of passing the
resolution on the Armenian genocide.
He is sure that they will take retaliatory steps if this resolution
passes. " The Turkish government has said that Turkish opinion would
be inflamed and outraged by this resolution and that they, the Turkish
government, fear what the Turkish parliament might do in reaction to
something our parliament might do. So it’s a little bit different than
what you described. Turkey is a good ally. It is also a country which
is undergoing a profound democratic transformation itself. These
things are advancing, and as this happens there is a growing
discussion in Turkey about their own past, and in particular the past
of the Ottoman Empire and its relationship to the Armenian community
there and the mass killings that took place in 1915 and afterwards.
Turks are beginning to discuss this. We encourage them to examine
their history and the painful, what can be called dark spots, and
they’re not the only country that has them. The United States has
plenty of our own: slavery, treatment of American Indians, etc,"
Daniel Fried said.