The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and American Hellenic Institute (AHI) this week urged the United States Trade Representative to require that any new U.S.-Turkey trade agreement require that Ankara ends its illegal occupation of Cyprus and lifts its unlawful blockade of Armenia.

In a March 26th letter to acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis, AHI President Nick Larigakis and ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian explained that the two communities welcome, in principal, the Obama Administration “leadership on the expansion of U.S. trade and investment based on a fair playing field and respect for the rule of law.”

However, he stressed that, “in the case of Turkey, however, it is clear that the United States would not advance our national interests, our economic welfare, or our core values in any meaningful or enduring manner by rewarding a nation that so egregiously and flagrantly undermines the integrity of the global trading system by occupying a European Union member state and maintaining the last closed border in Europe.”

President Barack Obama notified Congress last week that his Administration would launch trade talks with the European Union aimed at forging the world's largest free-trade area. The Turkish press reported soon after the U.S. announcement that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan immediately had sent a letter to President Obama encouraging him to commence U.S.–Turkey free trade agreement talks in parallel with European Union negotiations.