US SAYS WILL CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE TURKEY AND ARMENIA TO MOVE FORWARD

Today’s Zaman
March 3 2010
Turkey

Days before the March 4 vote in the US House foreign affairs committee
regarding a resolution on Armenian allegations related to the incidents
of 1915, US officials said Obama administration would continue to
encourage Turkey and Armenia to move forward, not look backward.

At a daily press briefing on Tuesday, spokesman for the US Department
of State Philip Crowley said Washington supported the current process
for normalized relations between Turkey and Armenia.

At a ceremony in Switzerland last October, Turkish and Armenian foreign
ministers signed protocols to normalize relations. US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton was also present at the signing ceremony.

"We haven’t changed our view, but we continue to engage at a high
level with both countries and to encourage them to see it implemented
on both sides," Crowley said.

"We continue to encourage both sides. We understand how difficult this
is, how emotional this is. There’s not a common understanding of what
happened 90 years ago, but we value the courageous steps that both
leaders have taken, and we just continue to encourage both countries
to move forward, not look backward," he said.

Asked about the Armenian resolution to be voted Thursday by a US
House panel, Crowley said the US administration had a pretty good
understanding of how everyone feels on this issue.

On Monday, Turkey asked Obama administration to exert efforts against
the resolution and warned its NATO ally that relations would be
damaged if the House foreign affairs committee approved the measure.

Meanwhile, a group of Turkish lawmakers are lobbying in Washington,
D.C. against the resolution. Lawmakers are having meetings with
Congressmen in the House. Murat Mercan, head of the delegation,
voiced on Tuesday Turkey’s expectations from Obama administration to
exert more efforts against the resolution.