Turkish delegation to lobby against Armenia bill in US

The delegation will make lobbying activities against the adoption of a draft on 1915 incidents which will be discussed at U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on March 4.

Kiniklioglu told reporters that carrying such a draft onto the agenda was a lack of foresight as well as unfortunate while a normalization process was carried out between Turkey and Armenia.

Kiniklioglu said that they would stress the strategic and long-term importance of Turkey-U.S. relations during their meetings.

Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols on October 10, 2009 to normalize relations between the two countries. The protocols envisage the two countries to establish diplomatic ties and open the border that has been close since 1993. Turkey and Armenia also agreed to take steps to operate a sub-commission on impartial scientific examination of the historical records and archive to define existing problems and formulate recommendations, in which Armenian, Turkish as well as Swiss and other international experts would take part. However, on January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Armenia declared a decision of constitutional conformity on the protocols. Turkey thought the fifth article of Armenian Constitutional Court's verdict regarding the protocols was against the target and basis of the protocols.

Also, in 2005, Turkey officially proposed to Armenian government the establishment of a joint commission of history composed of historians and other experts from both sides to study together the events of 1915 not only in the archives of Turkey and Armenia but also in the archives of all relevant third countries and to share their findings with the public.

/World Bulletin/