TURKEY SHOULDN’T NEGLECT AZERBAIJAN’S INTERESTS, US DIPLOMAT SAYS
PanARMENIAN.Net
01.02.2010 11:48 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Chairman of
American Turkish Council’s (ATC) Board of Directors, Richard Armitage
stated that Turkey should not neglect Azerbaijani interests in the
process of normalization of relations with Armenia.
Commenting on the ongoing Turkey-Armenia dialogue to VOA News,
Armitage said that the U.S. administration supports this initiative.
"I am not sure whether Turkish Parliament will ratify Zurich protocols
or not, but the initiative towards normalization of relations with
Armenia cannot be underestimated. On the other hand, Turkey should not
damage Azerbaijan’s interests. I know that our Azerbaijani friends
get surprised at the speed of the process. Besides, they are not
being well informed on this issue. The ties with Azerbaijan should
be repaired," he said.
As to adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution in the
U.S. Congress, Armitage said, "Yes, I am concerned about that a
bit. The Armenian Diaspora is strong, especially in California. This
is a political reality in United States. I have worries about the
probability of revival of the genocide resolution. But I hope the
Armenian Diaspora will be farsighted and will show an appropriate
attitude, realizing how difficult the mission of Turkish government
is."
The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic
destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during
and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to
lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths
reaching 1.5 million.
The date of the onset of the genocide is conventionally held to be
April 24, 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities arrested some 250
Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople.
Thereafter, the Ottoman military uprooted Armenians from their homes
and forced them to march for hundreds of miles, depriving them of
food and water, to the desert of what is now Syria.
To date, twenty countries and 44 U.S. states have officially recognized
the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars
and historians accept this view. The Armenian Genocide has been also
recognized by influential media including The New York Times, BBC,
The Washington Post and The Associated Press.
The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the
Genocide survivors.
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.