Washington briefing: U.S. official reiterates support for Armenia-Turkey “process”

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Friday November 20, 2009

Philip Gordon. Tigran Tadevosyan / Photolure.

Washington - A senior State Department official reiterated support for U.S.-mediated Armenia-Turkey talks that resulted in the signing of protocols on relations last month, but left no indication about when the agreements might be implemented.

Assistant Secretary of State for Eurasia Philip Gordon was speaking with Turkish media representatives at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara on November 12.

Mr. Gordon insisted that the Armenia-Turkey normalization process and the protocols' ratification "should not be linked to anything else." But he also acknowledged that Turkish leaders continue to tie ratification to progress in Karabakh talks and that ratification was not a done deal.

"If [the protocols] can be ratified and implemented, then this can lead to open borders, more trade, prosperity, and peace among neighbors," Mr. Gordon suggested without saying whether that might happen "within a reasonable timeframe."

The U.S. official also downplayed concerns that Turkey's closer ties with Iran, Syria, and Sudan indicated a shift of Turkey's international orientation.

"I don't see any turning of Turkey's axis" away from the West, Mr. Gordon argued, according to the Embassy transcript. "I think that Turkey was and remains a country with very close ties to the West and certainly to" the United States.

But, he added, "It is true that a lot of people in the West are asking questions when they hear comments [by Turkish officials] that seem out of touch with broad Western views of certain situations."

Mr. Gordon's trip was in preparation for Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan's forthcoming visit to Washington, during which he will have a December 7 White House visit with President Barack Obama.