Washington pledges continued support for turkish-Armenian rapprochement talks

The US government highly values bold steps taken by Turkish and Armenian leaders towards normalized relation and will continue to encourage both countries to move forward, not look backward, US Assistant Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley said yesterday. "We have supported the current process that we hope will result in normalized relations between Turkey and Armenia," Crowley told reporters. "We haven't changed our view, but we continue to engage at a high level with both countries and to encourage them to see it implemented on both sides. We continue to encourage both sides. We understand how difficult this is, how emotional this is. There's not a common understanding of what happened 90 years ago, but we value the courageous steps that both leaders have taken, and we just continue to encourage both countries to move forward, not look backward." Asked about a vote set for today by a key House committee on an Armenian "genocide" resolution, Crowley said the US administration understands how everyone feels about the issue. On Monday, Turkey asked the Obama administration to push against the resolution and warned its NATO ally that relations would be damaged if the House Foreign Affairs Committee passes it.