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US Congressmen address President Obama on Armenia-Turkey relations and so-called â€œArmenian genocideâ€

31 July 2009 10:36 (UTC +04:00)

The pro-Armenian Congressmen expressed concern over the Ankaraâ€™s impediment the normalization of Turkey-Armenian relations and called on the president to recognize so-called â€œArmenian genocideâ€. The letter was initiated on July 10 by Reps. Frank Pallone (D.-N.J.), Mark Kirk (R.-Ill.), Adam Schiff (D.-Calif.), and George Radanovich (R.-Calif.) and signed by 81 Congressmen.

â€œWe write to you with our concerns about Turkish backpedaling on the agreed upon roadmap to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia. While the Government of Armenia remains committed to this roadmap and has long offered to establish ties with Turkey without preconditions, Turkey’s public statements and actions since April 24th stand in sharp contrast to this agreement and undermine U.S. policy that normalization take place without preconditionsâ€, said the Congressmen in their letter.

The Congressmen referred to the statement by Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan on May 13, 2009 that the borders with Armenia will remain closed until the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is solved and occupation of Azerbaijani lands ends.

â€œIt would appear that Turkey, in an effort to block U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide, agreed to a roadmap it did not intend to uphold. Therefore, we urge your Administration to separate the issues of normalization and genocide recognition. We hope that renewed efforts and focused resources from the Administration can be utilized to nurture the Armenia-Turkey normalization process without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe, and continue to remain strongly supportive of your stated campaign policy to officially recognize the Armenian Genocideâ€, said the Congressmen.