US urges Turkey, Armenia "not to look backward"

Days before the March 4 vote in the U.S. House foreign affairs committee regarding a resolution on Armenian allegations related to the incidents of 1915, U.S. officials said Obama administration would "continue to encourage Turkey and Armenia to move forward, not look backward."

At a daily press briefing on Tuesday, spokesman for the U.S. Department of State Philip Crowley said Washington supported the current process for normalized relations between Turkey and Armenia.

At a ceremony in Switzerland last October, Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers signed protocols to normalize relations. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also present at the signing ceremony.

"We haven't changed our view, but we continue to engage at a high level with both countries and to encourage them to see it implemented on both sides," Crowley said.

"We continue to encourage both sides. We understand how difficult this is, how emotional this is. There's not a common understanding of what happened 90 years ago, but we value the courageous steps that both leaders have taken, and we just continue to encourage both countries to move forward, not look backward," he said.

Asked about the Armenian resolution to be voted Thursday by a U.S. House panel, Crowley said the U.S. administration had a pretty good understanding of how everyone feels on this issue.

On Monday, Turkey asked Obama administration to exert efforts against the resolution and warned its NATO ally that relations would be damaged if the House foreign affairs committee approved the measure.

Meanwhile, a group of Turkish lawmakers are lobbying in Washington, D.C. against the resolution. Lawmakers are having meetings with Congressmen in the House. Murat Mercan, head of the delegation, voiced on Tuesday Turkey's expectations from Obama administration to exert more efforts against the resolution.


/World Bulletin/