ARMENIAN CAUCUS VOICES CONCERNS OVER ARMENIA-TURKEY PROTOCOLS

armradio.am
04.09.2009 10:37

The Co-Chairmen of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues,
Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) expressed
reservations regarding Turkey’s willingness to cooperate in the
implementation of its agreements under a set of recently signed
protocols on the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations, reported
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In a public statement, the two legislators called into question several
points related to the protocols, including Turkey’s pattern of using
its ongoing dialogue with Armenia as a "stall tactic" to delay the
lifting of its illegal 16-year blockade of Armenia. The Co-Chairman
also noted their concern regarding Turkey’s efforts to impose
preconditions, stressing that: "Normalization of relations should
take place without preconditions." In a rebuke to the "historical
commission" long advanced by Turkey, they set forth their view that:
"Any attempt to include a review of historical fact, such as the
Armenian Genocide, or to include the ongoing Nagorno Karabakh peace
process into these negotiations stands in direct opposition to the
intent of these talks."

The leaders of the Armenian Caucus closed their statement by expressing
their hope that, "Turkey, by lifting its illegal blockade, will
open the door to normalized relations between Yerevan and Ankara,
and a new era of Armenia-Turkey relations based on truth, justice,
peace and cooperation."

Earlier this week, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the lead author of the
Armenian Genocide Resolution, expressed "serious concerns about some
provisions of the protocols," stating that: "In particular, I was
deeply disappointed to see that the protocols call for the creation of
an historical commission to review the events of 1915-23. This is a
thoroughly discredited idea; there is no dispute among scholars that
the Armenian people were the subject of genocide during the waning
days of the Ottoman Empire and an historical commission is another
effort to obfuscate the truth."

Rep. Schiff went on to state that: "True reconciliation between the
Armenian and Turkish peoples will occur when Turkey acknowledges the
genocide that was committed by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians
from 1915 – 1923."