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DANIEL FRIED: THE WHITE HOUSE ADMINISTRATION THINKS THAT HOUSE RESOLUTION 106 WOULD DO GRAVE HARM TO U.S. INTERESTS
ArmInfo Agency, Armenia
Oct 8 2007
ArmInfo. The Administration opposes House Resolution 106, stipulating
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and it would do grave harm,
both to U.S.-Turkish relations and to U.S. interests, US Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Daniel Fried,
said at a briefing in the US Department of State.
"It would hurt our forces deployed in Iraq, which rely on passage
through Turkey. It would do far greater harm than good. It would do
nothing to advance Turkish-Armenian reconciliation," he stressed.
"But more to the point, it is not simply this Administration which
opposes this bill, but all former living Secretaries of State have
written to Speaker Pelosi in opposition, including: Madeleine Albright,
Warren Christopher, Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, James Baker,
Alexander Haig, George Shultz, Larry Eagleburger," he added.
"Now, no one, neither the former secretaries nor the Administration
denies that a terrible and inexcusable tragedy of mass killings and
forced exile befell innocent Armenians in the last years of the Ottoman
Empire in 1915 and after. Those are historical facts. Up to a million
and a half people were killed or forced into exile. The United States
has recognized this. President Bush, like President Clinton before
him, has formally recognized it in annual statements on Armenian
Remembrance Day on April 24th," the American diplomat noted. So the
Administration does not deny anything, he added. "We do not deny
anything. But we do not believe that this bill would advance either
the cause of historical truth or Turkish- Armenian reconciliation or
the interests of the United States and we oppose it," D.Fried repeated.
D.Fried didn't want to discuss a possible Turkish reaction to a bill
that he hopes doesn't pass. "It is true that the Turkish reaction
would be extremely strong. It has been strong when such resolutions
have passed before and we have to be mindful of how much we depend
and how much our troops and the Iraqi economy depends on shipments
from and through Turkey," he stressed.
For his part, Spokesman of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Vladimir
Karapetyan noted that the USA's position in this matter is not new.
He referred to the Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian's
statement on the letter by former Secretaries of State to US Speaker
of the House Nancy Pelosi on House Resolution 106.
To recall, V.Oskanian said in his letter addressed to N.Pelosi: "It
is quite unfortunate that eight experienced diplomats would buy into
Turkish manipulation. There is much to disagree with in that letter,
especially about the purported dangers of such a resolution. I will
only address the insincere claim that such a resolution would "damage
efforts to promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey. I regret
to say that there is no process in place to promote normalization
of relations between Armenia and Turkey. Expressing concern about
damaging a process that doesn't exist is isingenuous".
ArmInfo Agency, Armenia
Oct 8 2007
ArmInfo. The Administration opposes House Resolution 106, stipulating
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and it would do grave harm,
both to U.S.-Turkish relations and to U.S. interests, US Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Daniel Fried,
said at a briefing in the US Department of State.
"It would hurt our forces deployed in Iraq, which rely on passage
through Turkey. It would do far greater harm than good. It would do
nothing to advance Turkish-Armenian reconciliation," he stressed.
"But more to the point, it is not simply this Administration which
opposes this bill, but all former living Secretaries of State have
written to Speaker Pelosi in opposition, including: Madeleine Albright,
Warren Christopher, Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, James Baker,
Alexander Haig, George Shultz, Larry Eagleburger," he added.
"Now, no one, neither the former secretaries nor the Administration
denies that a terrible and inexcusable tragedy of mass killings and
forced exile befell innocent Armenians in the last years of the Ottoman
Empire in 1915 and after. Those are historical facts. Up to a million
and a half people were killed or forced into exile. The United States
has recognized this. President Bush, like President Clinton before
him, has formally recognized it in annual statements on Armenian
Remembrance Day on April 24th," the American diplomat noted. So the
Administration does not deny anything, he added. "We do not deny
anything. But we do not believe that this bill would advance either
the cause of historical truth or Turkish- Armenian reconciliation or
the interests of the United States and we oppose it," D.Fried repeated.
D.Fried didn't want to discuss a possible Turkish reaction to a bill
that he hopes doesn't pass. "It is true that the Turkish reaction
would be extremely strong. It has been strong when such resolutions
have passed before and we have to be mindful of how much we depend
and how much our troops and the Iraqi economy depends on shipments
from and through Turkey," he stressed.
For his part, Spokesman of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Vladimir
Karapetyan noted that the USA's position in this matter is not new.
He referred to the Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian's
statement on the letter by former Secretaries of State to US Speaker
of the House Nancy Pelosi on House Resolution 106.
To recall, V.Oskanian said in his letter addressed to N.Pelosi: "It
is quite unfortunate that eight experienced diplomats would buy into
Turkish manipulation. There is much to disagree with in that letter,
especially about the purported dangers of such a resolution. I will
only address the insincere claim that such a resolution would "damage
efforts to promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey. I regret
to say that there is no process in place to promote normalization
of relations between Armenia and Turkey. Expressing concern about
damaging a process that doesn't exist is isingenuous".