U.S. congressmen supports Turkey-Armenia thaw

AZG DAILY #173, 26-09-2009

Armenia – Turkey

Update: 2009-09-26 00:30:47 (GMT +04:00)

US CONGRESSMEN SUPPORTS TURKEY-ARMENIA THAW

U.S. congressmen supported normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations.

U.S. congressmen supported on Wednesday normalization of
Turkish-Armenian relations.

Three congressmen who are the members of the Congressional Caucus on
Turkey sent a letter to other members of the U.S. House of
Representatives, supporting the rapprochement between Turkey and
Armenia.

In their letter, U.S. congressmen Robert Wexler, Edward Whitfield and
Kay Granger supported the August 31 joint declaration of Turkey,
Armenia and Switzerland and the normalization process between Turkey
and Armenia.

The three congressmen called on their other colleagues to support
normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations, and said the trilateral
declaration made by the governments of Turkey, Armenia and Switzerland
on August 31 made public two protocols and a schedule to normalize
relations.

In their letter, Wexler, Whitfield and Granger said as far as they
were concerned, Turkish and Armenian leaders would most probably meet
in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General
Assembly.

The U.S. congressmen hoped this meeting would bring the two countries
closer to each other, and lay the groundwork for a planned visit of
Armenian President Serzh Sargsian to Turkey to watch a World Cup
qualifier on October 14.

The co-chairmen of the Congressional Caucus on Turkey said Turkey and
Armenia had been having internal consultations for six weeks, and they
were expected to sign protocols at the end of the six weeks and
present them to their parliaments for approval.

When protocols were ratified, they would pave the way for improving
bilateral relations between Turkey and Armenia, particularly
establishing diplomatic relations, commercial and economic
cooperation, the congressmen said.

In the letter, the U.S. congressmen said as far as they were
concerned, the protocol on establishment of diplomatic relations betw
nd establish full diplomatic relations once the protocols entered into
force.

Also, they said the protocol on improving bilateral relations would
ensure confidence for fulfilment of articles of the two protocols.

In the letter, U.S. congressmen said the significant progress of
Turkey and Armenia for normalizing their bilateral relations was
encouraging.

U.S. congressmen underlined the key importance of this historic
development between the two countries for ensuring peace, security and
welfare in the South Caucasus.

The three congressmen said unfortunately, South Caucasus had been a
region where cooperation and relations were overshadowed and where
economic growth, stability and political reforms were restricted due
to decades long clashes.

Therefore, they said in their letter, they were encouraging Turkish
and Armenian governments and parliaments to progress on the
rapprochement process, with the support of the Swiss government, and
to build a better future for Turkey, Armenia and the entire South
Caucasus, worldbulletin.net reports.