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Head of Turkey-U.S. Inter-parliamentary Friendship Caucus Suat Kiniklioglu: Hopefully we will prevent passage of â€œArmenian genocideâ€ resolution in the U.S. Congress with success

04 March 2010 09:06 (UTC +04:00)

- How would you describe the situation around the draft on 1915 incidents which will be discussed at House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs tomorrow?

- We still have some hopes. Especially, in the US Congress, the members of congress change their minds many times at the very last minute. And we know that there are still committee members who have not made a clear decision over the issue. Every minute was important today. We tried to contact the House representatives we have not been able to reach so far through the representatives we have already spoken with.

- Do you think the resolution could be a tool for the U.S. administration to pressure Turkey on the ratification of the diplomatic protocols signed by the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers in October?

- First of all, Americans are not helping the normalization process with this attitude or this resolution. Turkey wants regional peace in the Caucasus region and the United States could have a great help in this. However, we are wasting time with these resolutions instead of working towards peace in the region.

- But some analysts believe that, normalization process between Turkey and Armenia is hopeless and â€œdeadâ€.

- I believe the normalization process will continue. Very delicate process the ratification of the two protocols signed in last October by Turkey and Armenia and the normalization process between the two countries. This situation is due to the sensibilities on both sides of the borders and fierce opposition on the ground. When you consider the recent level that Turkish-American relations have reached, you understand that the timing of the resolution is absurd and baseless. The process of the ratification of the protocols will take a long time in the Parliament. Hopefully we will prevent this harmful resolution with success. The government, opposition parties, non-governmental organizations and Turkish community in US are all acting in unity in this issue.

- If the US Congress recognizes the â€œArmenian genocideâ€ bill, how will it influence the negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

- First of all, I would like to say that, bringing the resolution on the agenda of U.S. Congress while the process between Turkey and Armenia continues, is unfortunate and is due to lack of foresight.
Itâ€™s a different environment from 2007, when a similar resolution, passed in committee, failed to reach the House floor. In 2007, we felt the American administration was behind our cause. Although Turkey had a generally more nettlesome relationship with the Bush administration than it has with Mr. Obama, the current president was not actively helping Turkey on this issue. If it comes to the floor and passes, there will be major repercussions on every aspect of our relationship,. No Turkish government can tolerate such an affront. We all need to tread very carefully.
Again, I believe the normalization process between turkey and Armenia will continue. And in terms of Armenia withdrawing from Nagorno-Karabakh, this would definitely be welcoming news and a good reason to make progress for ratifying the protocols.