U.S. WILLING TO HELP YEREVAN AND ANKARA REACH AGREEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.03.2009 17:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Turkish prime minister’s chief foreign policy
adviser said Thursday that US-Turkish relations are in a "historic era"
of agreement.

The comment followed Ahmet Davutoglu’s meetings with senior
U.S. administration officials including national security adviser
James Jones ahead of President Barack Obama’s trip to Turkey early
next month.

The reintroduction on Tuesday by several lawmakers of a new resolution
in the House of Representatives could complicate Obama’s visit and
Ahmet Davutoglu said the issue was discussed in his meeting with Jones.

Asked whether Obama’s views might have changed, Davutoglu was
noncommittal.

"I did not say yes or no," he said. "Of course, I cannot speak on
behalf of General Jones, but we went through all these issues in a
very friendly and cooperative manner."

He said "all of these things could be debated from a historical
perspective, but should not hijack the strategic vision of
Turkish-American relations or Turkish-Armenian relations."

Nothing can shadow the success of this visit," Davutoglu said.

White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer declined
to comment on what Jones and Davutoglu discussed regarding the
Armenian issue.

"Our focus is on how, moving forward, the U.S. can help Armenia and
Turkey work together to come to terms with the past," he said. "It
is important that countries have an open and honest dialogue about
the past. At the same time, we want to work closely with both Turkey
and Armenia on the key issues that confront the region."

"I don’t want to go any further on it until we have had a chance
to take a closer look at it and discuss it within the government,
and that’s where I’m going to leave it," State Department spokesman
Robert Wood told journalists on Wednesday, World Bulletin reports.