STATEMENTS BY U.S. OFFICIALS

Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs

Interview with Anatolia News

Washington, DC
October 9, 2007

Anatolia News: Mr. Secretary, first of all I would like to thank you for granting this interview to Anatolia News Agency.

As you know there is an Armenian resolution before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee and it’s scheduled to be voted on tomorrow. What is the position of the American government on this matter?

Assistant Secretary Fried: We oppose this resolution. Not only do we oppose it in theory, but President Bush, Secretary Rice, Under Secretary Burns and I have been working with individual members on the committee to explain our position and urge them not to vote for this. We oppose it strongly. We are joined in this by all former living Secretaries of State, Democrats and Republicans, who have also come out in writing against this bill.

Anatolia News: Is this administration able to prevent the adoption of the Armenian resolution?

Assistant Secretary Fried: I hope so. We have a vote in the committee tomorrow. It’s going to be very close. I hope we succeed. As of this morning Secretary Rice, Under Secretary Burns, our Ambassador in Ankara, Ross Wilson, and I are all talking to Members of Congress, so we are doing our best to see that this resolution does not pass. We think it is a mistake. We don’t think it will help the cause of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation. It will not help the cause of historical truth. I don’t see any good coming from it at all.

Anatolia News: President Bush in a phone conversation with Prime Minister Erdogan on Friday said that it’s not up to the government to legislate historical events, which is exactly the Turkish government’s position on this matter. Is this a shift in policy by the administration? Because rather than citing national security interests, this time President Bush has expressed that it’s not a legislative issue?

Assistant Secretary Fried: We don’t think this resolution will help in any way. It’s true that terrible events occurred after 1915. We have said so. Up to a million and a half innocent people, Armenians, were killed or forced into exile. These are historical facts. Every country, including the United States, has dark spots. From my own country, slavery and our treatment of American Indians are two of those. Every honest country must come to terms with its own history, but the way to do that is through honest reflection and honest dialogue, not through legislation. It wasn’t foreign legislation that got the American people and the American government to do the right thing about slavery and about civil rights. It came from within. I think the same thing is true for all honest nations.

Anatolia News: How was your meeting with the Turkish Parliamentarian delegation this morning?

Assistant Secretary Fried: That just ended. The Parliamentarians expressed their strong views in opposition to this resolution, obviously. They know what we’re doing to try to defeat it. So this was a meeting where we were honest with each other about the tough fight in our legislature, but these are people committed to good U.S.-Turkish relations.

Anatolia News: Are you worried about the reaction of Turkish people and the Turkish government, if the resolution is adopted?

Assistant Secretary Fried: Well obviously emotions in Turkey are running high. We know this. And we hope that the Turkish people understand how strongly the American government -- the President, the Secretary of State and former Secretaries of State like Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright -- have stood in opposition to this bill.

We also, and I should add this, we also expressed, Nick Burns and I expressed to the Turkish Parliamentarians our revulsion at the killings by the PKK terrorists in Turkey over the weekend and our disgust at the killing of innocent civilians by these terrorists. We want to see the PKK out of business, out of action forever.

Anatolia News: Are you worried about a cross-border operation by Turkey?

Assistant Secretary Fried: Emotions in Turkey are very strong and that’s understandable. We think that Turkey should look at what will best defeat the PKK. Turkey and Iraq have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding about counter-terrorist cooperation. We think that more needs to be done on the Iraqi side and I hope for more progress in this area.

Anatolia News: What can the U.S. government do to help Turkey and Iraq to eliminate the PKK threat?

Assistant Secretary Fried: Well, we can press the Iraqi authorities, both the Kurdish regional government and the authorities in Baghdad, to do more. We can increase and we are increasing some of our sensitive cooperation with Turkey. There are a lot of things we can do and we intend to do them.

Anatolia News: If we go back to Armenian issues, are you optimistic about the future of Turkish-Armenian relations? The Turkish government has reached out to Armenians and established a committee to determine the political effects and it has opened its archives to historians, yet the Armenian government has rejected this offer.

Assistant Secretary Fried: We think there are many voices in Turkey -- in the government and outside the government -- genuinely committed to better relations with Armenia, and also genuinely committed to what I called an honest introspection about history. I hope that this resolution, H.R.106, is defeated tomorrow. And I hope that if it is defeated Turkish-Armenian relations will move ahead strongly and in a positive way.

There are many people in Armenia who also, obviously would like to have better relations with Turkey. These are serious people and I think good partners for Turkey if we can get past this resolution.

Anatolia News: Congressman Tom Lantos has been vocal against Armenian claims, yet expressing his distaste over March 1st vote by the Turkish Parliament. He has voted in favor of Armenian resolution before. Is March 1st still not behind us? What is the fate of Turkish-American relations?

Assistant Secretary Fried: March 1st is certainly behind us as far as the administration is concerned. That was a tough vote for a Parliament, many of whose members were new. They had just come to office. This was a hard issue. A lot has happened.

The American government has had a tougher time in Iraq than we anticipated. We have made our mistakes. Now we need to look at a future for Iraq, the best possible future, a united Iraq, a functional government, an Iraq that is more stable and a better neighbor for Turkey. To do this, we and Turkey must work together.

Anatolia News: If this resolution to be voted on tomorrow (passes), would you expect Turkey to prevent logistic supplies for American soldiers in Iraq?

Assistant Secretary Fried: I don’t want to speculate about what Turkey might do, especially since I hope this resolution doesn’t pass at all. Turkish-American relations are based on common interests as well as common values and these will continue. But look, today and tomorrow we’re going to be working to see that this doesn’t pass, so that’s where our efforts will be concentrated.

Anatolia News: What can the U.S. do to assist the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation?

Assistant Secretary Fried: Let’s assume that this resolution is defeated or that time has passed. Turkey and Armenia need to find ways to work together and I think there are serious people on both sides who want to do this. The United States will support all of those serious people, both looking at relations between the countries, looking at relations between the people, and looking at ways to approach the painful but shared past in the Ottoman period.

Anatolia News: Thank you.

Assistant Secretary Fried: My pleasure.