Congressman: Armenian-Turkish relations shouldn't be linked either to Karabakh or Genocide issues

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Most people in the Armenian community that I talk to are in favor of normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey. And of course I would like to see more normal relations between the two countries, including significant trade between them," Frank Pallone. Jr., the New Jersey Democrat who is a founding co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, said.



According to him, Armenian-Americans also want genocide recognition and they felt that the Obama administration was trading the roadmap for genocide recognition. "I believe that these two issues should be separated. The president should make a public statement recognizing the Armenian Genocide and Congress should pass its resolution. We should proceed with the roadmap as well; one should not be in lieu of the other," Frank Pallone said.



He stressed, that the Armenian government was very supportive of the roadmap, but they did not want it to be an excuse not to recognize the Armenian Genocide. And after April 24, Turkish leaders began to step back from the "road map," and going back to their preconditions related to the Karabakh conflict.



"These are all separate issues. Normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations should not be linked to the Karabakh conflict", Frank Pallone said.



"I would note that the Obama administration is not opposed to the resolution, I have not heard that. And President [Barack Obama]'s position is that the Genocide occurred and should be recognized. But [because] all the emphasis was on the "road map" in April, the issue of the genocide was sort of put aside," the congressman said



"I do think that a presidential statement and a resolution by Congress are necessary to memorialize the Armenian Genocide. And while genocide recognition needs to remain a priority, the diaspora should spend time to prioritize other issues as well. These would include a settlement with regard to Nagorno-Karabakh as well as U.S. support of Armenia economically and militarily. We have the two Armenian republics and they need to be protected," Frank Pallone said in an interview to Armenian reporter.