US LAWMAKERS URGED OBAMA TO SUPPORT TURKEY’S RECONCILIATION WITH ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.04.2009 01:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ US lawmakers urged President Barack Obama to throw
his weight behind Turkey’s accession to the European Union and strongly
support the NATO ally’s reconciliation with Armenia, AFP reports.

"The United States must remain an iron clad supporter of Turkish
membership in the EU," 29 Democrats and Republicans from the House
of Representatives said in a letter to the president, who is bound
for Turkey within days.

The lawmakers urged Obama to help Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s government undertake the necessary political, economic and
judicial reforms to join the European Union.

"We believe Turkey’s success as a secular democracy that fully respects
the rule of law and guarantees freedoms, civil, religious and human
rights are in the interest of the Turkish people, the European Union
and the United States," they said.

They also urged "unequivocal" US support for Turkey and Armenia’s
efforts at easing longstanding tensions.