AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
March 12 2010
Azeri minister warns of fallout from US `genocide’ vote
12-03-2010 06:40:03
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has said a US
congressional panel’s recent decision to approve a bill branding the
alleged 1915 killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as `genocide’ has
`an adverse impact’ on the talks aimed at finding a peaceful solution
to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.
`If US congressmen discuss events which happened 100 years ago, then
they should first give an assessment to the Khojaly genocide which
happened 20 years ago,’ added Mammadyarov, referring to the massacre
committed by Armenians against Azeris in 1992.
The minister said he disbelieves the US Congress` resolution could
help establish peace and stability neither in the South Caucasus nor
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee has endorsed
the `genocide’ resolution with a 23-22 vote, even though the Obama
administration had urged Congress not to offend Turkey by approving
it. The bill is now expected to go to the 435-member House.*