US REPRESENTATIVES ‘ASSIST’ ARMENIA, TURKEY

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Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:48:05 GMT

A number of US congress members have expressed readiness to ‘assist’
ties between Turkey and Armenia in a bid to reconcile the long
time foes.

Some prominent US House members including Representatives Robert
Wexler, member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ike Skelton,
chairman of the House Armed Service Committee and Alcee Hastings,
co-chairperson of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe,
wrote a letter to the countries’ leaders on Monday to demonstrate their
readiness to re-establish good relations between the two neighbors.

In the letter to the Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and his
Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul, the US congress members indicated,
"It is essential that the building blocks of trust and cooperation
are established between Armenia and Turkey to heal open wounds, mend
broken hearts and create a better future for both nations and peoples."

"As members of Congress who agree that lasting Armenian-Turkish
rapprochement should be a top priority for the United States,
please know we are ready to assist your nations’ efforts to normalize
relations and build a better future for generations of Armenians and
Turks," the letter went on to read.

The US legislators also noted, "As members of Congress who agree that
lasting Armenian-Turkish rapprochement should be a top priority for the
United States, please know we are ready to assist your nations’ efforts
to normalize relations and build a better future for generations of
Armenians and Turks."

They have furthermore stressed that the process would be ‘difficult
and at times painful’ but hoped that the ‘breakthrough would forever
change the dynamics of the region’.

Turkey and Armenia have no formal diplomatic relations since Armenians
accuse the Turks for killing hundreds of thousands of Turkish Armenians
between 1915 to 1917. Turkey rejects the claims.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress