Few People in U.S. Knew about Armenian Genocide Some 10-20 Years Ago
The Turkish public tends to get interested in own history and past. This is proved by the recent international conference on the Armenian Issue in Istanbul. Turkey should understand and reconcile to its history. It's very important for us, AAA Executive Director Bryan D. Ardouny said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.
"However Turkey denies the Armenian Genocide and keeps on imposing blockade on Armenia, so we continue our activities in this direction. As you know Armenia is ready to normalize the Armenian-Turkish relations without preconditions. I should also underscore that we keep in touch with the Congressmen and the Bush Administration and this cooperation proves efficient. The number of members of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues increases day by day. By the way, very few people in the United States knew about the Armenian Genocide some 10-20 years ago. Moreover, media did not even use the term "genocide". Now the situation is quite different. Great number of people are aware of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. I think this is the service of the Armenian lobbying organizations, for most part of the AAA," he said.
At thte same time he remarked that if Turkey is really aspired to the EU full membership it should meet all the commitments set to it. "This first of all implies freedom of speech, religious tolerance and open borders with the neighbor states. If Turkey does not fulfill these obligations it will never be accepted to the EU," the AA Executive Director said.
Full text of the interview
"However Turkey denies the Armenian Genocide and keeps on imposing blockade on Armenia, so we continue our activities in this direction. As you know Armenia is ready to normalize the Armenian-Turkish relations without preconditions. I should also underscore that we keep in touch with the Congressmen and the Bush Administration and this cooperation proves efficient. The number of members of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues increases day by day. By the way, very few people in the United States knew about the Armenian Genocide some 10-20 years ago. Moreover, media did not even use the term "genocide". Now the situation is quite different. Great number of people are aware of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. I think this is the service of the Armenian lobbying organizations, for most part of the AAA," he said.
At thte same time he remarked that if Turkey is really aspired to the EU full membership it should meet all the commitments set to it. "This first of all implies freedom of speech, religious tolerance and open borders with the neighbor states. If Turkey does not fulfill these obligations it will never be accepted to the EU," the AA Executive Director said.
