US DEPARTMENT OF STATE DOES NOT SHOW ITS CARDS BEFORE PANEL VOTE ON HOUSE RESOLUTION ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

ArmInfo
2010-03-03 13:15:00

ArmInfo. The US Department of State does not show its cards before
the upcoming U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee panel vote on
the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res.252 cheduled for March
4. At the briefing on Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of State Philip
J. Crowley prevaricated about the upcoming vote and the stance of the
US Department of State on the given issue. He just ade few antiseptic
phrases repeatedly made by other representatives of the US Department.

"Well, first of all, I think we have supported the current process
that we hope will result in normalized relations between Turkey and
Armenia. And within that process, as the Secretary said last week,
we think that there is ample room for Turkey and Armenia to evaluate
the historical facts as to what happened decades ago. So we haven’t
changed our view, but we continue to engage at a high level with both
countries and to encourage them – having worked to reach the agreement
in Switzerland last year to see it implemented on both sides," he said.

Crowley said he thinks the advancement of normalized relations between
Armenia and Turkey is in the interest of both countries. "It’s in the
interest of the region as well. We cannot afford to look at this in
zero sum terms, that somehow scoring a point on one side is a loss
for the other. So I would just say that we continue our high-level –
we’ve had intensive conversations at high levels. The Secretary has
been directly involved extensively and repeatedly. Deputy Secretary
Steinberg, Under Secretary Burns, Assistant Secretary Phil Gordon have
all been directly engaged with the leadership in Turkey and Armenia.

The Secretary had a meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan in Doha
talking about this issue," he said.

"So 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 and not look backward," P. Crowley
said. He highlighted that the USA has a pretty good understanding of
how everyone feels on this issue.
From: Baghdasarian