Full Steam Ahead
The State Department is encouraging Congress not to pass U.S. House of Representative's Resolution 106.
They are claiming that it will undermine relations with Turkey and hamper efforts in Turkey of coming to terms with the 1915 Genocide of 1.5 million Armenians.
I don’t know what games the State Department thinks they are playing or if they think that Armenian are naïve children, but I can tell you that if they were serious about Turkey opening their boarders and normalizing relations with Armenia so 106 would not be considered by anyone, they should have worked and had results by now so 106 would be not necessary. Believe me, the U.S. has the power to do what they claim to be encouraging Turkey to do.
All I can say is that the U.S./Turkey’s best bargaining chip will be that before 106 comes up to vote, Turkey needs to take concrete steps NOW and open the boarders and start to normalize relations. Until we see this happen, it should be business as usual and full steam ahead to get 106 passed. No empty promises from the Department of State, like the ones we have seen in the past should even be a consideration for us to change course. If they want us to back down, then open the boarders and normalize relations first and then we can talk about other options of Genocide recognition.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE WARNS CONGRESS AGAINST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.09.2007 15:16 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The United States condemnation of this tragedy is not at issue; the question is how best to facilitate reconciliation of all concerned parties with each other and with their painful and shared past," U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said when addressing the Department of State with a report titled "The future of the U.S.-Turkey relations.
"We believe passage of the U.S. House of Representative's Resolution 106, which would make a political determination that the tragedy of 1915 constituted genocide, would undercut voices emerging in Turkey for dialogue and reconciliations concerning these horrific events. We therefore have recommended to Congress that it not pass such a resolution," he said.
"We strongly encourage Turkey to normalize its relations and reopen its border with Armenia, steps that will help bring peace, prosperity and cooperation to the Caucasus. Now, in the wake of the AKP's resounding electoral victories, is the time for Ankara to make a bold opening toward Armenia. And we hope that Armenia will respond in kind.
In conclusion, the United States and Turkey have enjoyed a relationship of Allied friendship for over half a century of enormous complexity, success, and promise. We have weathered a difficult period over the past four years. We now stand at the edge of a potentially new era in Turkish politics that offers a chance to restore a sense of strategic partnership in U.S.-Turkish relations," Mr Burns said.
They are claiming that it will undermine relations with Turkey and hamper efforts in Turkey of coming to terms with the 1915 Genocide of 1.5 million Armenians.
I don’t know what games the State Department thinks they are playing or if they think that Armenian are naïve children, but I can tell you that if they were serious about Turkey opening their boarders and normalizing relations with Armenia so 106 would not be considered by anyone, they should have worked and had results by now so 106 would be not necessary. Believe me, the U.S. has the power to do what they claim to be encouraging Turkey to do.
All I can say is that the U.S./Turkey’s best bargaining chip will be that before 106 comes up to vote, Turkey needs to take concrete steps NOW and open the boarders and start to normalize relations. Until we see this happen, it should be business as usual and full steam ahead to get 106 passed. No empty promises from the Department of State, like the ones we have seen in the past should even be a consideration for us to change course. If they want us to back down, then open the boarders and normalize relations first and then we can talk about other options of Genocide recognition.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE WARNS CONGRESS AGAINST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.09.2007 15:16 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The United States condemnation of this tragedy is not at issue; the question is how best to facilitate reconciliation of all concerned parties with each other and with their painful and shared past," U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said when addressing the Department of State with a report titled "The future of the U.S.-Turkey relations.
"We believe passage of the U.S. House of Representative's Resolution 106, which would make a political determination that the tragedy of 1915 constituted genocide, would undercut voices emerging in Turkey for dialogue and reconciliations concerning these horrific events. We therefore have recommended to Congress that it not pass such a resolution," he said.
"We strongly encourage Turkey to normalize its relations and reopen its border with Armenia, steps that will help bring peace, prosperity and cooperation to the Caucasus. Now, in the wake of the AKP's resounding electoral victories, is the time for Ankara to make a bold opening toward Armenia. And we hope that Armenia will respond in kind.
In conclusion, the United States and Turkey have enjoyed a relationship of Allied friendship for over half a century of enormous complexity, success, and promise. We have weathered a difficult period over the past four years. We now stand at the edge of a potentially new era in Turkish politics that offers a chance to restore a sense of strategic partnership in U.S.-Turkish relations," Mr Burns said.
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