U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE EXPRESSES ITS SORROW OVER APPROVAL

Turkish Press
Oct 11 2007

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Department of State expressed its sorrow
over approval of a resolution regarding Armenian allegations on the
incidents of 1915 by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on
Foreign Affairs.

Sean McCormack, spokesman for the U.S. Department of States, said
in a statement they regretted that the resolution was passed by the
committee and sent to the House of Representatives.

"The U.S. administration maintains its strong opposition to this
resolution, passage of which may do grave harm to U.S.- Turkish
relations and to U.S. interests in Europe and the Middle East,"
he said.

McCormack also added that the bill will not improve relations between
Turkey and Armenia, and will not help efforts to make a progress
between Turks and Armenians to reach a compromise over the 1915
incidents.

Meanwhile, U.S. Under Secretary for political Affairs Nicholas Burns
said, "the U.S. administration was deeply disappointed by the vote
but hoped Turkey, one of our most valued and important allies, would
not retaliate."

"We hope very much that the disappointment can be limited to statements
and not extend to anything concrete that would interfere with the very
good way that we have been working with the Turks for many years,"
he told reporters after approval of the resolution.

""We need to continue to be able to work together effectively,"
said Burns, adding that Turkey had not made any specific threats
before the vote over Incirlik or other areas of cooperation between
the two countries.

Burns said secretary Rice planned to call her Turkish counterpart
Ali Babacan early on Thursday.

"We will obviously impress upon the Turkish leadership our deep
disappointment and the fact that we opposed this resolution and that
the administration worked very, very hard to produce a different kind
of vote," he said.

Noting that Turkey has opened the Ottoman archives to researches and
proposed Armenia to set up a joint committee of historians, Burns added
that there are better and more constructive ways to make a progress.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress