Armenian FM reacts to former US secretaries of state letter to Pelosi
28.09.2007
YEREVAN (YERKIR) - Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian sent a letter to US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in response to an earlier letter by former US secretaries of state.
The letter says:
It is with dismay that I read the content of the letter signed by former US Secretaries of State urging Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to derail H. Res. 106.
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 disingenuous.
Armenia has always been ready to have normal relations with its neighbor. Yet, every initiative that would lead toward normalization has been rejected by Turkey. Instead, it continues to place pre-conditions. Turkey makes offers that are simply invitations for open-ended talk, without serious commitment to arriving at minimal, ordinary relations between neighbors. Even their call for a historical commission to discuss painful, historic events is not serious, given their prohibitive penal consequences for open speech and discussion and the adversarial environment Turkey has created by maintaining closed borders with Armenia.
I have already written to Speaker Pelosi to express our deep concerns and to dismiss as unfounded any implication that a resolution that addresses matters of human rights and genocide could damage anyone’s bilateral relations.
YEREVAN (YERKIR) - Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian sent a letter to US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in response to an earlier letter by former US secretaries of state.
The letter says:
It is with dismay that I read the content of the letter signed by former US Secretaries of State urging Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to derail H. Res. 106.
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 disingenuous.
Armenia has always been ready to have normal relations with its neighbor. Yet, every initiative that would lead toward normalization has been rejected by Turkey. Instead, it continues to place pre-conditions. Turkey makes offers that are simply invitations for open-ended talk, without serious commitment to arriving at minimal, ordinary relations between neighbors. Even their call for a historical commission to discuss painful, historic events is not serious, given their prohibitive penal consequences for open speech and discussion and the adversarial environment Turkey has created by maintaining closed borders with Armenia.
I have already written to Speaker Pelosi to express our deep concerns and to dismiss as unfounded any implication that a resolution that addresses matters of human rights and genocide could damage anyone’s bilateral relations.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 10:50 PM
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