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ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER HOPES FOR PASSAGE OF U.S. ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.10.2007 13:47 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We hope that the U.S. Congress will pass Armenian
Genocide resolution," Armenia's Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan said
at a reception in the Armenian Embassy in Washington.
He said that he has had other issues including economic and security
cooperation to discuss with U.S. officials in meetings that began last
week. He said that Armenia has tried to stay out of a U.S. political
debate.
The Associated Press notes that Turkey has lobbied intensively
against the resolution, while Armenian-American groups have pressed
for its passage.
The resolution did not come up in talks last week with U.S. officials
including Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Robert Gates
or in a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sargsyan said.
After a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday,
the State Department said that the two had discussed a joint economic
task force aimed in part at monitoring economic reform in Armenia.
The RA PM said that he believes that the resolution is being held up in
Congress because of Turkish pressure not because there is disagreement
in the House of Representatives over whether the Genocide took place.
"So there is nothing to discuss," he said in an interview at the
Armenian Embassy. "We are convinced that the Armenian Genocide
occurred and that the sooner the Turks admit this, the better for
both the Armenians and the Turks."
Sargsyan's trip comes at a time that relations between Washington
and Ankara have reached a recent low, as Turkey has protested the
congressional foray into a sensitive historical matter.
Turkey has also said that passage of the resolution would undermine
hopes of improving relations with Armenia. Turkey closed its border
with Armenia in 1993 during a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
a Muslim ally of Ankara. The countries currently have no diplomatic
relations.
"I don't understand what the Turks are saying," Sargsyan said. "We
have no relations now. We cannot harm something that is non existent."
But he said that resolving the historical dispute over the killings
of Armenians should not hold up efforts to restore relations.
"It is not a precondition for re-establishing relations between the
two states," he said.
He said that he expected to discuss with Rice efforts to resolve the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.10.2007 13:47 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We hope that the U.S. Congress will pass Armenian
Genocide resolution," Armenia's Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan said
at a reception in the Armenian Embassy in Washington.
He said that he has had other issues including economic and security
cooperation to discuss with U.S. officials in meetings that began last
week. He said that Armenia has tried to stay out of a U.S. political
debate.
The Associated Press notes that Turkey has lobbied intensively
against the resolution, while Armenian-American groups have pressed
for its passage.
The resolution did not come up in talks last week with U.S. officials
including Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Robert Gates
or in a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sargsyan said.
After a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday,
the State Department said that the two had discussed a joint economic
task force aimed in part at monitoring economic reform in Armenia.
The RA PM said that he believes that the resolution is being held up in
Congress because of Turkish pressure not because there is disagreement
in the House of Representatives over whether the Genocide took place.
"So there is nothing to discuss," he said in an interview at the
Armenian Embassy. "We are convinced that the Armenian Genocide
occurred and that the sooner the Turks admit this, the better for
both the Armenians and the Turks."
Sargsyan's trip comes at a time that relations between Washington
and Ankara have reached a recent low, as Turkey has protested the
congressional foray into a sensitive historical matter.
Turkey has also said that passage of the resolution would undermine
hopes of improving relations with Armenia. Turkey closed its border
with Armenia in 1993 during a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
a Muslim ally of Ankara. The countries currently have no diplomatic
relations.
"I don't understand what the Turks are saying," Sargsyan said. "We
have no relations now. We cannot harm something that is non existent."
But he said that resolving the historical dispute over the killings
of Armenians should not hold up efforts to restore relations.
"It is not a precondition for re-establishing relations between the
two states," he said.
He said that he expected to discuss with Rice efforts to resolve the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.