ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION ON AGENDA OF FERIDUN SINIRLIOGLU’S MEETINGS IN WASHINGTON
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.02.2010 18:36 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun
Sinirlioglu , currently on a visit to Washington, is set for a series
of meetings with officials at the US State Department and the National
Security Council. Feridun Sinirlioglu will meet US Deputy Secretary of
State James Steinberg and Assistant Secretary of State for European
and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon. As the Turkish Today’s Zaman
newspaper wrote, during the meetings the Turkish diplomat will focus
on the recent developments in the Caucasus and the Balkans.
Earlier, Feridun Sinirlioglu visited Switzerland, where he expressed
Turkey’s fears over the decision of the Armenian Constitutional Court
on Armenian-Turkish Protocols .
The visit of the Turkish diplomat came shortly after Rep. Howard
Berman of California, the Democratic chairman of the House Committee
on Foreign Affairs, said last week that he intended to call a committee
vote on March 4 on the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary is expected to express
Ankara’s concerns over the Armenian Genocide resolution 252 to the
American side.
The Armenian Genocide resolution (H.Res. 106) was submitted to the
House of Representatives by Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), on
January 30, 2007, during the 110th United States Congress. It was
a non-binding resolution calling upon the US President to ensure
that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate
understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human
rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States
record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes. Upon
its introduction it was referred to United States House Committee
on Foreign Affairs where it passed a 27-21 vote and was sent back
for a full house vote. On October 26, 2007, in a letter addressed
to the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, four key sponsors of the bill,
requested a debate on the bill in full House to be postponed.
In 2009, another congressional resolution affirming the U.S. record
on the Armenian Genocide (H.Res.252) was been formally introduced
in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Adam Schiff (D.-CA),
George Radanovich (R.-CA), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D.-NJ), and Mark Kirk
(R.-Ill). It currently has 134 co-sponsors.
The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation.
On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Armenia found the protocols conformable to the country’s Organic Law.