ARMENIAN FM REACTS STRONGLY TO JOINT LETTER TO PELOSI FROM FORMER SECRETARIES OF STATE
Hurriyet, Turkey
Oct 1 2007
A joint letter written to the Speaker of the US House of
Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, from former US Secretaries of State
Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig, George Shultz, James Baker, Lawrence
Eagleburger, Warren Christopher, Madeleine Albright, and Colin Powell
has elicited a strong reaction from Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian.
The letter, in which the team of former Secretaries of State warn
Pelosi against the passage of the proposed Armenian Genocide bill in
the US House of Representatives, warns of "damage that would be done
to the efforts to compromise" between Turkey and Armenia. Oskanian,
reacting to news of the letter, asserted that Armenia and Turkey
were a long way off from normalization of relations, saying "Despite
Armenia’s efforts to form normal relations with all of its neighbors,
Turkey has taken no steps from its side to normalize relations."
Oskanian’s statement also noted that, due to the lack of normal
relations between Armenia and Turkey, the passage of the "Armenian
Genocide" bill by the US House of Representatives would not "damage"
any relations.