Azernews.Az

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the passage of a bill on the alleged 1915 genocide of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in Congress would be undesirable at a time efforts are ongoing to mend the two neighbors’ relations that are marred by decades of enmity.
"At this time we all are working toward a normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations, such a resolution cannot benefit the process," Panarmenian.net news portal quoted Clinton as saying during hearings in the House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee.
Speaking ahead of the March 4 vote on the "genocide" bill at the Committee, she said the US administration’s efforts and steps should be focused not on impeding, but on facilitating reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia.
"Both I and President Obama are opposed to decisions that would shelve or hurt the process. The U.S. supports expediting this process and maintains close contact with both sides."
A total of 130 members of the committee support recognizing the 20th century developments in the Ottoman Empire as "genocide". The committee is expected to decide whether or not a relevant bill will be submitted to Congress for consideration.
The secretary of state added that the US president has not altered his stance on the "genocide" issue.
During his pre-election campaign, Obama termed the 1915 developments as genocide.
Armenians claim 1.5 million of their ancestors died at the hands of Ottoman Turks. Armenians residing in the Anatolia region started riots in 1890, which intensified during the war, and fought against the Ottoman army in support of Russia. In an effort to end the stand-off, the Ottoman government decided in 1915 to resettle the Armenians to other parts of the country. Armenians claim their forefathers were subjected to "genocide" in the process. Ankara dismisses the claims and has offered to research the events through a joint commission of historians.
CNN Turk TV channel has quoted Clinton as saying that the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh is not a pre-condition for normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations, but resolving the long-standing dispute would bring stability to the turbulent region.
"I am continuously in touch with the Turkish, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders. We are doing our utmost to accomplish a normalization of Turkish-Armenian ties as well as a diplomatic solution to the Upper Garabagh conflict."
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Grand National Assembly (parliament) called on US Congress to counter upcoming discussions on a "genocide" bill. A statement co-signed by the members of its foreign affairs commission says that this debate would not serve the interests of either the U.S. or Armenia, not to mention Turkey, and could, on the contrary, derail Ankara-Yerevan dialog.
"We believe that Congress members will not discuss such grave historical issues that could damage peace in the region. We hope that American legislators will revisit their attitude toward this issue," the statement said.
Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations and the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993. Armenia's occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan, Turkey’s ally, and Yerevan’s claims on the 1915 genocide have been obstacles to normal relations between the two countries. The two governments signed two protocols to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders in October 2009. However, Turkey has assured Azerbaijan that the protocols will not pass in its parliament until progress is made in resolving the Garabagh conflict.*