Tuesday, April 27 2021 11:13

ArmInfo. There are many important issues that need to be resolved, including the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, US Ambassador to Armenia Lynn Tracy is convinced.   The ambassador called the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by US  President Joe Biden a "historic" event.

"The recognition of the president, his statement on Saturday, of course, reflects the  president's deep respect for the Armenian people. He had the  opportunity to make a statement, a historic recognition of what  happened in 1915. The President has long been interested in this  topic. I think this reflects his deep respect for the importance of  universal human rights. And, of course, having been here for two  years, hearing the words of gratitude from the Armenians, I know that  it was very important for them to finally see this day, " Lynn Tracy  said in an interview with Radio Azatutyun.

Asked whether this recognition could have legal consequences and  change US policy towards its NATO ally Turkey or Armenia, Ambassador  Tracy said that since the Armenian Genocide occurred in 1915 and the  Genocide Convention was adopted in 1951, the convention cannot be  legally retroactive.

"As for the relations between the United States and Turkey, this  country is an important ally of the United States in the framework of  NATO. However, the Biden administration has made it very clear that  the differences between the United States and Turkey must be  effectively resolved," the ambassador said.  When asked whether  Washington is going to put pressure on Ankara to take certain  important steps in terms of restoring diplomatic relations with  Armenia and opening its borders, the American ambassador noted that  there has long been an interest in promoting reconciliation between  Armenia and Turkey and broader reconciliation in the region.

"This will benefit everyone in the region-Armenia, Turkey,  Azerbaijan, Georgia. This is a very important question. But at the  same time, it is clear that there are some urgent issues that need to  be addressed based on the post-conflict situation. This is an issue  in which the Minsk Group can play a very important role. There are,  as I said, very simple, urgent issues that will hopefully be resolved  through the Minsk Group so that we can reach a more serious  reconciliation issue, " Tracy said.

To the remark that during the last war in Karabakh, several attempts  were made to stop it, including from the American side, but only  Russia managed to do it, and the question was what caused this-the  loss of interest on the part of the United States in the South  Caucasus region or the strengthening of Russia, the US Ambassador  replied: "I remember that there were several attempts to reach a  cease-fire, which did not yield results. Moreover, the first attempt  was made by Russia. And then there were attempts by France and the  United States. There is no doubt that Russia played an important role  in stopping the war, but although the war was stopped by concrete  actions, we see that there are many important issues that need to be  resolved. This is the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, the problems of  internally displaced persons. So, there are several issues that still  remain on the agenda of the United States and other OSCE Minsk Group  co-chair countries. And we intend to address these issues."