[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 156 (Monday, October 26, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2629-E2630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO THE REPUBLICS OF TURKEY AND ARMENIA OPENING THEIR BORDER

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 26, 2009

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate 
the Republics of Armenia and Turkey for their ongoing efforts to open 
their joint border and normalize relations. On October 10, 2009, they 
signed protocols in Zurich, Switzerland, which establish diplomatic 
ties and reopen a border that has been closed since 1993. While the 
negotiations have at times been difficult and emotional, the agreement 
is an important first step

[[Page E2630]]

to restoring full diplomatic relations between these neighboring 
states.
  Madam Speaker, I also want to congratulate Secretary of State Hillary 
Clinton for her leadership in helping to move the process forward. In 
this connection, I would like to submit an October 14, 2009 Washington 
Post editorial entitled, ``Opening a Border.'' The article does an 
excellent job of detailing the deft diplomatic work of Secretary 
Clinton to assist Turkey and Armenia in taking this historic step.
  As the article states, the rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia 
is critical to the United States since it promotes stability in the 
Caucasus region and could provide new avenues for gas and oil export to 
the West.
  In closing, I commend Secretary Clinton and her colleagues at the 
State Department and offer my full support for their valiant efforts. 
The protocols have been sent to the parliaments of the respective 
countries. I hope they will be ratified quickly and open the door to a 
new era of diplomacy and friendship.

               [From the Washington Post, Oct. 14, 2009]

                            Opening a Border

       Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton executed some 
     deft diplomancy last weekend as the leaders of Turkey and 
     Armenia signed a potentially historic deal to establish 
     normal diplomatic relations and reopen their borders. We say 
     ``potentially'' because there are some big obstacles to 
     implementing the accord, which we'll come back to. But Ms. 
     Clinton helped to ensure that the signing ceremony in Zurich 
     went forward after four hours of last-minute mediation. Not 
     for the first time in her short tenure, she proved capable of 
     overcoming an impasse and teasing out of a favorable outcome 
     of the United States.
       The rapprochement between these two nations matters to the 
     United States for a number of reasons. It could help 
     stabilize the volatile Caucasus region, open the way for new 
     corridors for the export of gas and oil to the West, ease 
     Russian's political domination of Armenia and remove a major 
     irritant from U.S. relations with Turkey. The Obama 
     administration worked diligently to promote the accord: Ms. 
     Clinton made 29 phone calls to the leaders of the two 
     nations. President Obama played a part by sidestepping a 
     campaign promise to formally recognize the mass killing of 
     Armenians by Turks during World War I as ``genocide.''
       The genocide issue--and the refusal of some in the American 
     Armenian community to compromise on it--still threaten to 
     undo the deal. The opening of the border, closed since 1993, 
     would be a huge benefit to impoverished and landlocked 
     Armenia. But there is resistance to a provision of the 
     accords that would set up a joint commission to study the 
     study of the massacres. Opponents say this could give Turkey, 
     which denies that a genocide took place, a means to 
     filibuster the issue--and to stop the annual attempt by some 
     in the U.S. Congress to pass a resolution declaring that 
     genocide occurred. In fact, the issue is one best left to the 
     two countries; that several U.S. Armenian groups have 
     endorsed the accord is a victory for common sense.
       A more formidable obstacle to the deal may be Armenian's 
     unresolved dispute with another neighbor, Azerbaijan, over 
     the ethnically Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is 
     occupied by Armenian along with neighboring Azeri territory. 
     Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the 
     courageous step of declining to make the settlement of this 
     ``frozen conflict'' a precondition to his accord with 
     Armenia--therby inviting the wrath of Azerbaijan, which is an 
     ally and energy supplier to Turkey. But Mr. Erdogan has 
     said--most recently last Sunday--that his government will not 
     go forward with the deal unless Armenia executes at last a 
     partial withdrawal from Azerbaijan. That would be a tough 
     step for Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and require 
     considerable international support: more delicate work for 
     Ms. Clinton.

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