Armenian Reporter:

Secretary Clinton remains upbeat on Armenia-Turkey talks

Says it’s up to parties to resolve differences

Published: Friday June 05, 2009

Hillary Clinton at the State Department in May 2009.

Asked whether she remained hopeful about a resolution of Armenian-Turkish relations on a bilateral track or in the Karabakh conflict since the statement by Armenia, Switzerland, and Turkey was issued on April 22, Mrs. Clinton said she remained "very encouraged by progress that has been made and commitment by governments involved."

Mrs. Clinton emphasized that Armenia and Turkey "have committed themselves to a process of normalization"; although she also counseled there was a need for "patience and perseverance" to achieve results in what she said was a "difficult undertaking" addressing longstanding issues.

She also pointed to this week's Armenia-Azerbaijan presidential summit in Saint Petersburg as evidence of progress in the Karabakh peace process.

Although immediately after the April 22 statement, the United States emphasized the need for the normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations to take place "without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe," U.S. officials have since linked progress in these talks to the Karabakh negotiations, describing the two processes as parallel.

Armenian officials insist there should be "no parallelism" or any other linkages between the two processes.

The United States also has not defined what it would consider to be "a reasonable timeframe," with Mrs. Clinton again saying that it was up to Armenia and Turkey to continue "on the path they themselves have set," and that the United States was only acting in a supporting role.

For his part, Mr. Davutoglu reiterated that Turkey "is fully committed to normalization with Armenia and resolution of Armenian-Azeri issues."

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