Turkey hopes Congress will not approve Armenian Genocide bill

PanARMENIAN.Net - "The Armenian Genocide bill will shadow the strategic partnership of Turkey and America, if approved," stated Turkish Prime Minister Rejep Tayyip Erdogan. In his words, Ankara does not expect such a decision from the House of Representatives. "However, I have worries that such a surprise would shadow our strategic partnership with the U.S. We have never lived with a stain throughout our history and we shall not live with such stain," stated Turkish premier at the meeting with American businessmen. Erdogan did not clarify what particularly Turkey is going to do. As Sabah newspaper reports, Rejep Erdogan blamed the Armenian Diaspora for using the Genocide issue to harm Turkey. The PM stressed, that "it is a historian's job to decide whether there was a genocide or not and no one has the right to defame Turkey via political lobbies."



106th resolution on recognizing the Armenian Genocide was introduced in the U.S. Congress at the end of January. During past years such resolutions were rejected thanks to the efforts of U.S. administration. But this year the possibility of its adoption is rather high. The democratic majority of Congress, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, has pro-Armenian stance.