ANCA COMMENDS CONGRESSMAN BERMAN FOR CONDUCTING HOUSE HEARING ON ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.06.2008

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) led a
two hour hearing today that included over a dozen members of Congress
questioning Assistant Secretary Dan Fried on the U.S.

policy of complicity in Armenian Genocide denial, Turkey’s blockade,
and Azerbaijan’s escalating threats of war, reported the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA).

"We want to thank Chairman Berman for this excellent opportunity for
members of the Foreign Affairs Committee to exercise oversight over a
deeply flawed set of U.S. policies toward Armenia and Armenian American
issues – most notably the Administration’s policy of complicity in
Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide, its lack of any meaningful
steps to lift Turkey’s blockade of Armenia, and its effective silence
in the face of escalating threats of war by an increasingly well armed
Azerbaijan against the people of Nagorno Karabakh." Berman opened the
hearing stating, "I’d like to start with one of the most puzzling and
problematic matters: the Turkish blockade of Armenia, in place since
1993. It’s a punishing policy that holds the Armenian economy back and
enormously increases the cost of much of Armenia’s trade with other
nations." He continued noting that "It’s baffling why Ankara would want
to pursue this land blockade, which also harms the economy of eastern
Turkey, and is therefore clearly contrary to its own interests."

The Chairman’s statement and questions were followed by powerful
remarks and in-depth inquiries by Armenian Genocide Resolution lead
author Adam Schiff (D-CA), Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs
Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) as well as Committee
members Brad Sherman (D-CA), Diane Watson (D-CA), Ed Royce (R-CA),
and Jim Costa (D-CA), among others.