U.S. remains hopeful on Armenian-Turkish reconciliation

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States said Thursday it remains hopeful that Turkey and Armenia will move toward reconciliation.

U.S. officials said they anticipated President Serzh Sargsyan's announcement that parliament will no longer consider ratifying the U.S.-backed deal, but they welcomed his decision not to fully withdraw from the peace process.

"We are actually encouraged that, both in the case of Armenia and Turkey, they have taken pains to make sure the process doesn't collapse," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters. "That gives us some reason for optimism that over the long term we can find ways to come back to it and try to push forward the protocols again," he said.

Crowley said that the United States urged the two countries not to give up on reconciliation efforts on the sidelines of this month's nuclear summit in Washington.

"Neither side has walked away from the process, but I think we all recognize that we'll just need some time to... create some new momentum that allows the process to move forward," Crowley said, AFP reported.

On April 22, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on suspension of the process of ratification of Protocols signed by Armenia and Turkey in Zurich last October.