Rice defends Turkey against Armenian allegations

Speaking before a committee of the US House of Representatives, Rice said that the U.S. had been working to encourage Turkey and Armenian to discuss the issue.

"What we've encouraged the Turks and the Armenians to do is to have joint historical commissions that can look at this, to have efforts to examine their past, and in examining their past to get over it," Rice said.

Her comments came in response to questions from Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, who has prepared a bill calling on the US to formally recognise claims the Ottoman Empire committed an act of genocide against its Armenian citizens during the First World War.

"I do not think it helps that process of reconciliation for the United States to enter this debate at that level," she said. NTV MSNBC