Agence France Presse
March 5, 2010 Friday 11:35 AM GMT

Armenia praises US lawmakers’ vote on ‘genocide’

Yerevan, March 5 2010

Armenia on Friday hailed a vote by US lawmakers to brand the killing
of Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I as "genocide,"
calling it an important step forward for human rights.

"We highly appreciate the decision," Foreign Minister Eduard
Nalbandian said in a statement. "This is another proof of the devotion
of the American people to universal human values and is an important
step toward the prevention of crimes against humanity."

Officials in Yerevan also said Ankara should not use the vote as a
pretext for delaying fledgling reconciliation efforts.

Armenia insists that a deal signed in October for the two countries to
establish diplomatic ties and re-open their border after decades of
hostility should not be linked with the genocide issue.

"It is groundless to say that the acceptance of the resolution…
should become an obstacle to normalising relations between Armenia and
Turkey," the head of a parliamentary committee studying the protocols,
Armen Rustamian, told reporters.

"The United States supports the normalisation of relations between
Armenia and Turkey without preconditions and the best way for the
United States to show that these processes are not related is to
recognise the Armenian genocide."

Overriding pressure from the White House and Turkey, a long-time NATO
ally, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly approved the
text on Thursday, opening the door for a vote at the full House of
Representatives.

The non-binding resolution calls on President Barack Obama to ensure
that US foreign policy reflects an understanding of the "genocide" and
to label the mass killings as such in his annual statement on the
issue.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed during World
War I by their Ottoman rulers as the empire was falling apart, a claim
supported by several other countries.

Turkey argues 300,000-500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks
died in what was a civil strife when Armenians rose up for
independence and sided with invading Russian troops.

Turkey recalled its ambassador from the United States after the vote
and has warned that ties will suffer.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also warned that the US
resolution raised the "the risk of stopping" the bridge-building
efforts with Armenia.

The signing of the Armenia-Turkey agreements was hailed
internationally but ratification by both countries’ parliaments has
since stalled as the two sides have traded accusations of trying to
modify the deal.