U.S. envoy: Turkey must deal with ghosts of the past

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey must deal with the ghosts of the past if it wants to become one of the world’s top 10 economies by 2023, the U.S. ambassador to Ankara said.

“Every great country has brilliant moments of which we are proud in our past and moments of pain,” Francis Ricciardone said.

“We think that historians need to grapple with this in an open and honest way so that you can come to a full and frank acknowledgement of what happened. We believe that you are beginning to do that,” he said.

“We would like to see our friends get along and we hope that you will overcome this dispute,” Ricciardone added, reiterating Washington’s intention to push forth a new dialogue between Armenia and Turkey.

“There needs to be a conversation. You need to get the historians together on both sides. I’ve been glad to see since I’ve come back to Turkey this past year that there is much more public conversation and debate. It’s no longer a closed box,” he said.

“Turks have greater confidence now to look into the past and to a painful chapter and decide what it means. There is more contact between Turks and Armenians to wrestle with this terrible period of time. So we support that and we hope you will arrive at it,” the ambassador said, Hurriyet Daily News reported.