CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE HOLDS HEARING ON US-TURKEY RELATIONS

AZG Armenian Daily
16/05/2009

International

Expert urges no linkage between Armenia-Turkey relations and Genocide
recognition or NKR Turkish Caucus Co-Chair and Chairman of the House
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Congressman Robert Wexler
(D-FL), held a hearing yesterday on U.S.-Turkey relations, reported
the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). The panel included
Dr. Ian O. Lesser with the German Marshall Fund of the United States,
Dr. Stephen J. Flanagan, Ph.D. with the Center for Strategic and
International Studies and David L. Phillips with the Atlantic Council
of the United States.

Testifying specifically about Armenia-Turkey relations, Phillips
stated that there should be no linkage with respect to normalization
of relations between Armenia and Turkey and affirmation of the
Armenian Genocide. Phillips also indicated that there should be no
linkage between Turkish-Armenian relations and the Nagorno Karabakh
peace process.

"The Armenian government has consistently and repeatedly offered to
normalize relations with Turkey without preconditions only to see
such offers rejected by Turkey," stated Assembly Executive Director
Bryan Ardouny.

"Affirmation of the Armenian Genocide and combating its denial is
a fundamental human rights issue and in no uncertain terms should
be linked to normalization of relations. In addition, there should
be no linkage to Armenia-Turkey relations and the Nagorno Karabakh
peace process," added Ardouny.

Phillips noted that progress in relations will be measured by "actions
and not words" and raised concerns about contradictory statements made
by Turkish leaders. Phillips pointed to the inconsistent statements
of Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, in which Gul said that normalization would proceed "without
preconditions," while Erdogan linked it to Nagorno Karabakh.

As reported in Todays Zaman, Erdogan reassured Azerbaijan’s President
stating that "some reports said Turkey gave up on Nagorno-Karabakh
in order to normalize relations with Armenia. This is an outright
lie. I dismiss it…." Erdogan also said Turkey and Azerbaijan were
"one nation with two states" and added that their stance on Nagorno
Karabakh has never changed.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsian criticized Erdogan for linking
Turkey’s lifting of its blockade and establishing diplomatic relations
to the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. "Any Turkish
attempt to interfere in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
problem can only harm that process," the President’s office said in
a statement yesterday.

Phillips, who also served as Chairman of the Turkish Armenian
Reconciliation Commission from 2001 to 2004, recalled the tragic
assassination of Hrant Dink, who was prosecuted under Article
301 of the Turkish Penal Code for speaking about the Armenian
Genocide. Phillips indicated that one way to honor the memory and
legacy of Hrant Dink would be to expand track two activities. Phillips
recounted the track two recommendations of TARC, and noted that a
legal opinion by the International Transitional Center for Justice
(ICTJ) concluded that the Armenian Genocide met the United Nations
definition of genocide.