White House Press Corps.org: Air Force One Press Gaggle by Tony Fratto 10/15/07 (Armenian Genocide Resolution)

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Air Force One Press Gaggle by Tony Fratto 10/15/07 (Armenian Genocide Resolution)
— Monday, October 15, 2007 —

Q On the Armenian genocide resolution, yesterday Speaker Pelosi said she has not heard -- has not received a telephone call from the President. Will he be calling her?

MR. FRATTO: I don't have -- I don't know anything about plans for a phone call. But there should be no question of the President's views on this issue and the damage that this resolution can do to our U.S. foreign policy interests. This isn't just a view that's expressed by the administration; this is a view that's been expressed by at least, I believe eight former Secretaries of State on a bipartisan basis, a number of former Defense Secretaries, by our Turkish allies, by independent experts, that this is an important time for U.S.-Turkish relations, and we would strongly encourage the Speaker not to bring this to a vote, and should it come to a vote, we will strongly encourage members not to support it.

This is not the best way to deal with this issue. It is, admittedly, a tragic historical event, which has been well documented, but there are better ways to deal with this issue than -- the most important outcome that I think everyone would like to see are improved Turkish and Armenian relations. And so we encourage the Turks and Armenian authorities to resolve this issue between themselves, and not for the U.S. House of Representatives to insert itself and make this -- make the prospects for resolving the issue more difficult. We should be trying to make it less difficult.

Labels: Air Force One, Armenia, Genocide, Iraq, Middle East, Press Gaggle, Resolutions, Tony Fratto, Turkey, White House Press Corps

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1 Comments:

At 12:43 AM, Muslims Against Sharia said...: Muslims Against Sharia commend House Democrats and Speaker Pelosi for pressing ahead with an Armenian genocide bill. Republican opposition to the bill is pure manifestation of moral relativism.
Muslims Against Sharia condemn Turkish government for refusing to acknowledge Armenian genocide and recalling its US ambassador in response to the bill.

Source: AFP
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