US diplomat: "If the resolution proceeds, it would harm Turkish-Armenian normalization"

At the sixth annual Sakip Sabanci Lecture at the Brookings Institution, US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon yesterday delivered a speech on issues such as Turkish-US relations, the Armenian resolution, secularism, freedom of the press, and the ongoing Ergenekon probe in Turkey. Stating that Turkey should protect the progress it has made, Gordon said, "Turkey must be careful to ensure that its hard-won successes in building a secular state and strong democratic system are sustained into the future." Gordon described media freedom as one of the bedrocks of a democratic society, urging that actions that appear to hinder the press doing its job be avoided. Warning that if the US House of Representatives allows the Armenian resolution to proceed any further, this would harm the normalization process between Turkey and Armenia, Gordon added, however, that Congress and the Obama administration, which he said had clearly and consistently opposed the resolution, are separate institutions.