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Former US Ambassador: If there is no adjustment between Armenia and Azerbaijan it’s not easy to finalize peaceful and creative projects and plans in the region
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29 Jul 2010 12:40 ]
Washington. Isabel Levine – APA. Ross Wilson, former US Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan, who currently serves as a Director of Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC, calls the US Congress to support the peaceful resolving of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, APA’s Washington DC correspondent reports.
Mr. Wilson addressed the US Congress’ Foreign Affairs Committee open Hearing on “Turkey’s New Foreign Policy Direction: Implications for U.S.-Turkish Relations”, Chaired by Howard Berman, who is known as a strong supporter of “Armenian Genocide” Resolution, on July 28th.
During the hearing Mr. Wilson touched upon the Turkish-Armenian normalization and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying that if there is no adjustment between Armenia and Azerbaijan it’s not easy to finalize peaceful and creative projects and plans in the region.
“Unfortunately, Armenian and Turkish leaders concluded that they could not go forward now to ratify the protocols that called for normalizing relations and opening the border. I think doing so can still build the confidence needed for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and for Turks and Armenians to deal with their past, present and future together in a forthright manner”, he added.
The former Ambassador pointed out that, the South Caucasus is a volatile and fragile part of the world. According to him, the 2008 Georgian war gave impetus to reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia.
“When President Sarksian and President Gul stood together in Yerevan a month after the Russian invasion of Georgia, the two leaders seemed symbolically to say, “we have a vision of the Caucasus, it’s not what just happened in Georgia, and we’re determined to take on the most difficult issues between us to try to achieve it”. But unfortunately, two sides concluded that they could not go forward now”, - he mentioned.
Speaking about the interests of brevity between US and Turkey, Mr. Wilson mentioned of Cyprus, Greece, the Balkans and the Black Sea, and such other active points on agenda of US-Turkish relations as well as energy, terrorism, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“Suffice it to say that, in my view, on each of these we want fundamentally the same things, there are of course differences of view, and the United States and Turkey cooperate pretty well”, - he added.
During the hearing the Congress Members explored their concerns over various directions of Turkish Foreign Policy, specially, towards Iran, Israel, etc.
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