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Ambassador Arman Kirakossian Meets with Armenian Journalists, comments on TARC
PRESS RELEASE
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Amb. Kirakossian Meets with Armenian Journalists, Comments on TARC
Last week, Armenia's Ambassador to the U.S., Dr. Arman Kirakossian met with a group of journalists from Armenia, who are in the U.S. on a State Department-sponsored visitors exchange program. Ambassador Kirakossian briefed the journalists on the U.S.-Armenian bilateral relations and intergovernmental dialog, the role of the Armenian American community, and the Embassy's work in Washington.
Answering an inquiry about the recently-formed Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC), the Ambassador noted that the establishment of TARC met with a serious public resonance in the Armenian-American community. The Ambassador said he believed that the main venue for the normalization of the Turkish-Armenian bilateral relations should be the dialog between the Governments of Armenia and Turkey. At the same time, he added that a responsible and impartial participation of non-government organizations and individuals also has a role in that process.
Noting that it was only natural that the Armenian-American civic and political organizations would react to this issue of utmost importance to Armenia and the Armenian people, Ambassador Kirakossian said he hoped that those organizations would bridge their differences over this issue with a sense of responsibility and civility, so as not to harm the common national interests. `Difference of opinions is an acceptable norm in a democratic society,' the Ambassador said and added that he would urge the participants in this debate to conform to the civil norms of a political dialog.
Ambassador Kirakossian pledged the Embassy's willingness to hold consultations with any political or civic group in the Armenian-American community in order to alleviate the tension and to continue working together to represent and protect the interests of Armenia and the Armenian people in the United States.
The group of journalists represented a number of influential media and TV
stations from Yerevan, including `Hayastani Hanrapetutyun,' `Azg,' `Novoye
Vremya,' `ITAR-TASS,' `AR' TV and `Prometheus' TV stations. Their program in
the U.S. will last until August 25, and they are scheduled to visit Los
Angeles, Boston, St. Louis, and New York.
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