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Hurriyet, Turkey
March 19 2010
Failing to change the course on Armenia
Thursday, March 18, 2010
CENGÄ°Z AKTAR
Victorious in the July 2007 elections, the ruling Justice and
Development Party, or AKP, found on its desk in October the House
Resolution on the Armenian Genocide at the United States House of
Representatives.
At the time, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an gave the following
possible consequences if the resolution was passed: `The U.S. will
considerably damage bilateral ties with one of its key allies in the
region. Positive developments with Armenia will become less likely.'
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the resolution on Oct.
10, 2007 exactly like in March 4, 2010. Following the vote, ErdoÄ?an
said that they were diligently working on possible steps to be taken,
saying, `These are not for talk, but for action,' after being asked
about the fate of U.S. Air Force Base in Ä°ncirlik.
Despite this, the partnership between the two countries has not
loosened up; on the contrary, especially after Barack Obama became
president, the Turkey-U.S. partnership blossomed more.
As the rumors were that ErdoÄ?an would cancel a trip to the U.S.
scheduled for November 2007, the visit actually took place on Nov. 3.
As for relations with Armenia, work on the Protocols, which were just
launched then, continued and the blueprints were signed last fall.
Armenian Genocide bills, which have been approved since 1965 in
parliaments around the world, have never caused such high tension
between Turkey and the 20 countries that have ratified them than the
feud existing today between Turkey and the U.S. and Turkey and Sweden.
The only serious tension, as far as I remember, happened when Turkey
called back the Turkish Ambassador to Paris Hasan Esat IÅ?ık, after a
monument dedicated to the genocide was inaugurated in Marseilles in
1974. In the near past, Turkey showed a similar reaction to Canada,
but that didn't last.
To the contrary, ErdoÄ?an has visited these 20 countries several times
with the exception of Armenia and the Republic of Cyprus. No
alterations have happened in economic relations. France is even being
invited back to military tenders after being snubbed for some time.
Tough but inefficient diplomacy
It's obvious that the government is toughening its stance compared to
previous years on foreign matters. Now we understand why Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu is likened to former U.S. State
Secretary Henry Kissinger, a champion of muscle-flexing foreign
policy.
Summoning back ambassadors from Stockholm and Washington one after the
other for consultations; requiring inconceivable guarantees from the
U.S. administration that the House Resolution won't reach the floor;
canceling and not postponing a two-party summit due to take place in
Stockholm; recommending business circles cool their relations with
these countries; threatening to deport clandestine workers from
Armenia in retaliation for genocide bills ` thus mimicking Idi Amin
Dada of Uganda when he expelled Muslim businessman from India and
Pakistan in 1972.
But all these are tough-looking, empty threats that detract from the
credibility of Turkey's foreign policy.
Because, in the end, ErdoÄ?an will go to the U.S. accompanied by the
Turkish ambassador and he will possibly discuss, among other things,
the Armenian issue. Relations with our biggest ally in the European
Union, Sweden, will go back to normal as well. The protocols signed
with Armenia will be shelved at least until the end of the election
period. But we should expect of Turkey engagement in gestures to
rebuild confidence following ErdoÄ?an's trip to Washington.
Defining the legislative acts of foreign parliaments as `irrelevant,'
`valueless,' `a comedy,' `ridiculous' and `a show of the diaspora'
fluctuates between insult and threat.
The Turkish government took a critical initiative in the summer of
2007 as a way to go beyond the common refrain that was used for
90-something years regarding the Armenian Genocide.
Irrespective of its goals, this was a courageous and critical move.
But, due to the government's rigidities, the initiative has been
aborted. Now, the government leader and its members are lashing out,
going through tantrums over national honor and pride.
Instead, they should calm down and find ways to normalize relations
with Armenia. In the meantime, officials could and should make an
effort to consult sources other than official denial tales of what
happened to Anatolian Armenians in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
For it is impossible for Turkey ` and the AKP, for that matter ` to
continue talking about democratic change on the one hand and, on the
other, confirm the horrifying deeds of early 20th century Ottoman
governments
March 19 2010
Failing to change the course on Armenia
Thursday, March 18, 2010
CENGÄ°Z AKTAR
Victorious in the July 2007 elections, the ruling Justice and
Development Party, or AKP, found on its desk in October the House
Resolution on the Armenian Genocide at the United States House of
Representatives.
At the time, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an gave the following
possible consequences if the resolution was passed: `The U.S. will
considerably damage bilateral ties with one of its key allies in the
region. Positive developments with Armenia will become less likely.'
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the resolution on Oct.
10, 2007 exactly like in March 4, 2010. Following the vote, ErdoÄ?an
said that they were diligently working on possible steps to be taken,
saying, `These are not for talk, but for action,' after being asked
about the fate of U.S. Air Force Base in Ä°ncirlik.
Despite this, the partnership between the two countries has not
loosened up; on the contrary, especially after Barack Obama became
president, the Turkey-U.S. partnership blossomed more.
As the rumors were that ErdoÄ?an would cancel a trip to the U.S.
scheduled for November 2007, the visit actually took place on Nov. 3.
As for relations with Armenia, work on the Protocols, which were just
launched then, continued and the blueprints were signed last fall.
Armenian Genocide bills, which have been approved since 1965 in
parliaments around the world, have never caused such high tension
between Turkey and the 20 countries that have ratified them than the
feud existing today between Turkey and the U.S. and Turkey and Sweden.
The only serious tension, as far as I remember, happened when Turkey
called back the Turkish Ambassador to Paris Hasan Esat IÅ?ık, after a
monument dedicated to the genocide was inaugurated in Marseilles in
1974. In the near past, Turkey showed a similar reaction to Canada,
but that didn't last.
To the contrary, ErdoÄ?an has visited these 20 countries several times
with the exception of Armenia and the Republic of Cyprus. No
alterations have happened in economic relations. France is even being
invited back to military tenders after being snubbed for some time.
Tough but inefficient diplomacy
It's obvious that the government is toughening its stance compared to
previous years on foreign matters. Now we understand why Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu is likened to former U.S. State
Secretary Henry Kissinger, a champion of muscle-flexing foreign
policy.
Summoning back ambassadors from Stockholm and Washington one after the
other for consultations; requiring inconceivable guarantees from the
U.S. administration that the House Resolution won't reach the floor;
canceling and not postponing a two-party summit due to take place in
Stockholm; recommending business circles cool their relations with
these countries; threatening to deport clandestine workers from
Armenia in retaliation for genocide bills ` thus mimicking Idi Amin
Dada of Uganda when he expelled Muslim businessman from India and
Pakistan in 1972.
But all these are tough-looking, empty threats that detract from the
credibility of Turkey's foreign policy.
Because, in the end, ErdoÄ?an will go to the U.S. accompanied by the
Turkish ambassador and he will possibly discuss, among other things,
the Armenian issue. Relations with our biggest ally in the European
Union, Sweden, will go back to normal as well. The protocols signed
with Armenia will be shelved at least until the end of the election
period. But we should expect of Turkey engagement in gestures to
rebuild confidence following ErdoÄ?an's trip to Washington.
Defining the legislative acts of foreign parliaments as `irrelevant,'
`valueless,' `a comedy,' `ridiculous' and `a show of the diaspora'
fluctuates between insult and threat.
The Turkish government took a critical initiative in the summer of
2007 as a way to go beyond the common refrain that was used for
90-something years regarding the Armenian Genocide.
Irrespective of its goals, this was a courageous and critical move.
But, due to the government's rigidities, the initiative has been
aborted. Now, the government leader and its members are lashing out,
going through tantrums over national honor and pride.
Instead, they should calm down and find ways to normalize relations
with Armenia. In the meantime, officials could and should make an
effort to consult sources other than official denial tales of what
happened to Anatolian Armenians in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
For it is impossible for Turkey ` and the AKP, for that matter ` to
continue talking about democratic change on the one hand and, on the
other, confirm the horrifying deeds of early 20th century Ottoman
governments