PHILIP CROWLEY: ARMENIA, TURKEY MUST MOVE FORWARD

news.am
March 30 2010
Armenia

The U.S. continues to press both Armenia and Turkey to move forward
and ratify the protocols, Philip Crowley, U.S.

Assistant Secretary of State, told a news briefing on March 29.

Responding to a question concerning the situation regarding the
Armenian genocide, he said that t is up to Turkey to decide on
re-sending its Ambassador to Washington.

"Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Davutoglu – they converse on
a regular basis. When you look at the issues that Turkey is engaged
in, they’ve had their own dialogue with Iran, their own dialogue with
Syria. They’ve had in the not-too-distant past constructive relations
with Israel. So they are playing an increasingly important role in
the region. And they are clearly linked to something we have spent
a lot of time and attention focused on, which is improving relations
between Turkey and Armenia. Many of you were with the Secretary when we
had the agreement on normalization. We continue to press both Armenia
and Turkey to move forward and ratify those protocols," Crowley said.

"And likewise, we are, along with our fellow members in the Minsk
process, involved in how to sort through the difficult and complex
issue regarding Nagorno-Karabakh. So this is just part of the ongoing
strategic nature of our relationship," he said.