RISK MONITOR BRIEFING
July 5, 2005
US CONGRESSMAN URGES THAW IN TURKEY-ARMENIA RELATIONS
According to Cumhuriyet, Congressman Adam Schiff, a California
Democrat and friend of the Armenian lobby, presented a draft
resolution late last week to the House International Relations
Committee calling on Ankara to end its economic embargo against
Armenia and to open their shared border. Schiff criticized Turkey’ds
decision to close its border with Armenia, calling it a “violation of
international standards for free trade.” Another friend of the
Armenian lobby, Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone, also said that
Washington should pressure Turkey to open the border. Schiff said
that he got a promise from the committee’ds chairman, Republican
Congressman Henry Hyde, that the bill would be discussed.