Hurriyet newspaper says Armenia-Turkish statement signed under pressure

Turkish “Hurriyet” published an article about the recent developments of the Armenian-Turkish relations stressing that the statement signed by both countries has been a result of pressure on Turkey by the American Administration. Referring to their diplomatic sources, the paper writes that an implicit threat by U.S. President Barack Obama to use the word “genocide” in his April 24 address, made Turkey sign the deal.

According to the paper it was first used by Obama implicitly in an April 7 meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and later U.S. negotiators were increasingly straightforward as they pushed their clout. The deal was concluded on April 22 after lengthy negotiations in both Yerevan and Ankara, under the mediation of U.S. officials. Mattew Bryza, U.S. assistant secretary of state, conducted 14 hours of marathon talks with the Armenians in Yerevan, while talks in Ankara were conducted between the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ertugrul Apakan.

/Panorama.am/