ATC warns Turkey will be blamed if talks with Armenia fail

Saturday, 06 February 2010 09:12

Turkey will be the party that circles in Washington will hold responsible if efforts by Ankara and Yerevan to normalize their relations fail, James Holmes, a retired US ambassador and the president and chief executive officer of the American-Turkish Council (ATC), has said.

After months of Swiss mediation and US encouragement, Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols in October 2009 to re-establish diplomatic ties and reopen their shared border. However, the process hit rocky ground after an Armenian court upheld the legality of the protocols but underlined that they could not contradict Yerevan’s official position that the alleged Armenian genocide must be internationally recognized.
Holmes, speaking with the Anatolia news agency in Washington, said he was “hopeful, however, also concerned,” regarding the course of affairs in Turkey-Armenia normalization. Holmes said everybody’s concerns will disappear if the parliaments of both countries ratify the protocols, Anatolia reported on Friday.
“I know Washington’s history concerning this issue. Even if Turkey is no guiltier than Yerevan, the political climate in Washington will mean that Turkey will be held responsible for any failure. This concerns me,” Holmes was quoted as saying by the agency.
“Therefore, we should be very careful and prepare in case of a negative course of events,” he said.