PRESS RELEASE
JOINT STATEMENT
Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Contact: John De Trana
Tel: (202) 393-3434
Fax: (202) 638-4904
E-mail: info@aaainc.org
Web:
February 9, 2010
MEETING WITH SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON POSTPONED
President Sargsyan Urges Turkey to Honor its Commitments
Washington, DC – with a blizzard that blanketed Washington, DC over
the weekend, and more snow predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday,
today’s meeting scheduled with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and
the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly), the Armenian General
Benevolent Union (AGBU), the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern), the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Western), the Knights
of Vartan, and the Armenian National Committee of America, has been
postponed, announced the Assembly and AGBU.
Meanwhile, today, Armenia’s President, Serzh Sargsyan in a message to
his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul urged Turkey to honor its
commitments stating that "now the time has come to manifest
determination to make [the] next major step and leave to the coming
generations a stable and secure region."
The Assembly and AGBU welcome President Sargsyan’s renewed call to
Turkey and view the meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton as an opportunity to discuss steps in which the U.S. can take
to ensure that Turkey lift its blockade and normalize relations with
Armenia without preconditions. Considering Turkey’s behavior, the
timing is even more appropriate for the United States to reaffirm its
record of Genocide acknowledgement and honor President Obama’s
commitment that "America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about
the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides." The
House of Representatives is set to consider the Armenian Genocide
Resolution in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 4, and with
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s support, the Senate should advance
the resolution as well.
Late last week, unfortunately, a specious editorial by the Armenian
Weekly, about the upcoming meeting with Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, not only misrepresented the facts, but unfortunately sowed
seeds of division instead of presenting a united front. While the
State Department had asked for discussions to consider expanding the
meeting to include four more slots, the Armenian Assembly of America
and the Armenian National Committee of America/Armenian Revolutionary
Federation could not reach consensus on who those additional
participants should be or several other matters. To date, the Armenian
National Committee of America has not even confirmed whether it will
attend or not, regardless of the ultimate configuration of the meeting
participants, and has also declined to meet at the Embassy of the
Republic of Armenia with all the groups invited prior to the meeting
with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The AGBU and Assembly want to be clear: "We would welcome the
participation of additional independent voices in the meeting, but do
not support the attempt by a political party to enhance its agenda to
politicize the process and further polarize the community. Those
initially invited are the organizations which had voiced their
position at the initiation of the issue of the Protocols and represent
a large cross-section of our community. In addition, we should all
agree on a common agenda in advance to present a unified front during
such a meeting, and avoid the type of posturing and lack of respect
with the Secretary of State as displayed during the community meeting
with President Sargsyan in New York City last October."
Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian program, annually touching the
lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America ()
is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting
public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is
a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.