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OBAMA EXPECTED TO AVOID G-WORD IN APRIL 24 SPEECH
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-278188-obama-expected-to-avoid-g-word-in-april-24-speech.html
April 22 2012
Turkey
US President Barack Obama will not use the word "genocide" when
describing the alleged Armenian genocide during his annual Armenian
Remembrance Day speech on April 24, 2012, Turkish political analysts
have claimed.
Specialists in Caucasian and US politics say it would not be timely
for Obama to undermine Turkey's stance on the issue, given the rising
importance of Turkey's partnership with the US in handling political
crises in the Middle East.
"Regarding the Armenian question, US relations with Turkey are at
a critical juncture," said Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu, a journalist and
expert on the Caucasus at Yerevan's European Regional Academy.
"Considering that Turkey will remain a strategic partner for the US,
we may assume that they will not change their position on this issue,"
he told Sunday's Zaman. He pointed out that the US president has not
said "genocide" on Remembrance Day in previous years. Turkey vehemently
rejects the genocide claims, saying the killings came as the Ottoman
Empire was trying to quell a civil strife and that Muslim Turks were
also killed in the clashes.
Turkey has repeatedly urged the US president not to use the word
genocide on April 24 during his speech, asking him to not only refer
to Armenian pains but also those of the Ottoman Turks during World
War I, and to mention Turkey's proposal of establishing a joint
commission of historians and experts from both Turkey and Armenia
to study evidence for the events of 1915 in the archives of Turkey,
Armenia and other relevant countries around the world.
As a presidential candidate, Obama repeatedly vowed to recognize
the Armenian genocide once in office, voicing his commitment to
commemorating and ending genocide.
Since 2009, the Armenian diaspora in the US has waited for the
president to honor his promise. Obama's repeated failure to use the
word "genocide" in his Armenian Remembrance Day message has created
deep disappointment in the community.
The US has not officially recognized the Armenians' claim that there
was a genocide in eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1923. Before Obama's
presidency, US leaders blocked attempts to pass resolutions recognizing
the World War I-era killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.
Pointing to this fact, Oztarsu claimed, "For the US, it is normal to
make promises to gain the support of Armenian community during the
election period and leave them aside due to the strategic importance
of Turkey." Turkey is a strategic US ally whose significance has
increased in the last year due to their close cooperation over the
development of several crises in the surrounding region.
The Turkey-US security alliance, which includes cooperation on
counterterrorism and military training, has strengthened since the
deployment of US radar on Turkish soil as part of a NATO-backed
missile defense system designed to protect European members of the
NATO alliance from potential missile threats emanating from a region
boiling with security problems.
The two countries also aim to steer political developments in the
same direction in the Middle East, which is going through a political
transition process as a result of the Arab Spring revolutions, by
fostering democratic rule, a peaceful transition period and the rule
of law.
Turkey and the US are now jointly involved in solving the Iraqi
political crisis through dialogue and a commitment to the establishment
of a political system which safeguards the voice of all sects and
ethnicities.
Another hot issue is the question of the political solution in Syria.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Obama declared a common agenda
on the eve of a critical nuclear security meeting in Seoul in March
with regard to the Syrian crisis, marking the importance of uniting
the opposition against the brutal regime in Syria and providing
non-lethal aid to the dissident forces, including telecommunications
and medical supplies.
Turkey's intermediary role in the Iranian nuclear crisis has also been
appreciated, although the issue seems to be on the backburner in the
US due to ongoing events in Syria, but continues to bear significance
given the imminent contingency of an Israeli pre-emptive strike on
the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities. The US and Israel are
staunch allies and Obama has repeatedly pledged to protect Israeli
security over the issue. The latest nuclear talks between Iran and
the Western governments in Ä°stanbul last week were deemed as a last
and great opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, and
both sides appealed for Turkish assistance when a deadlock loomed
during the talks.
In remarks similar to Oztarsu's, Ä°lter Turan, professor of political
science at Ä°stanbul's Bilgi University and also an expert on US
politics, agreed that Obama will likely refrain from making statements
that could raise resentment in Turkey, considering their current
amicable relationship.
"The Armenian issue is not taking hold of discussions in the US
election; it is not a pivotal issue," Turan said, pointing to the
fact that the Armenian diaspora is less influential in the US than
it is in France.
Political observers in Turkey have commented that the French incumbent
President Nicolas Sarkozy tried his best to garner the Armenian vote by
giving full-fledged support to a draft bill initiated by a member from
his party last fall that would have criminalized denying the Armenians'
claims of genocide. The draft bill was deemed unconstitutional by
the French Constitutional Council in February.
Meanwhile, Oztarsu mentioned alleged support for Armenian claims from
the Jewish lobby in the US due to Turkey's critical stance against
Israel over the last decade. He believes this support could help
Armenians exert more influence in the House of Representatives for
the recognition of their claims in the upcoming years. "The Jewish
lobby is a very strong lobby in the US and the Armenian community is
closely following their critical attitude against Turkey," Oztarsu
asserted, estimating that the Jewish lobby will ratchet up efforts
for the recognition of the Armenian cause in the House.
Satisfying both Turkey and Armenian diaspora
In previous years, Obama found himself between a rock and a hard
place while trying to satisfy both Turkish and Armenian claims over
the events of 1915 to 1923.
Describing the events in his previous speeches as "Meds Yeghern",
which means "Great Calamity" in Armenian, Obama has not only drawn a
rebuff from both Turkey, who described the US president's wording as
one-sided, but also from the Armenian diaspora, given that he failed
to brand the events as genocide.
BarıÅ~_ Ozdal, an expert in the Armenian question and lecturer at
the international relations department of Bursa's Uludag University,
claimed that for Obama to use the Armenian term to refer to the
allegations is at the disadvantage of Turkey in the long-term.
"Using the Armenian word would negate the Turkish thesis on the
question, because the word has started to procure acceptance as
'genocide' in the terminology of international relations," Ozdal
proposed.
"Some terms are not politically neutral -- everyone remembers the
Holocaust when we use the word genocide, and we think of a system of
racial segregation against black people in South Africa when we say
apartheid," Ozdal said.
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-278188-obama-expected-to-avoid-g-word-in-april-24-speech.html
April 22 2012
Turkey
US President Barack Obama will not use the word "genocide" when
describing the alleged Armenian genocide during his annual Armenian
Remembrance Day speech on April 24, 2012, Turkish political analysts
have claimed.
Specialists in Caucasian and US politics say it would not be timely
for Obama to undermine Turkey's stance on the issue, given the rising
importance of Turkey's partnership with the US in handling political
crises in the Middle East.
"Regarding the Armenian question, US relations with Turkey are at
a critical juncture," said Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu, a journalist and
expert on the Caucasus at Yerevan's European Regional Academy.
"Considering that Turkey will remain a strategic partner for the US,
we may assume that they will not change their position on this issue,"
he told Sunday's Zaman. He pointed out that the US president has not
said "genocide" on Remembrance Day in previous years. Turkey vehemently
rejects the genocide claims, saying the killings came as the Ottoman
Empire was trying to quell a civil strife and that Muslim Turks were
also killed in the clashes.
Turkey has repeatedly urged the US president not to use the word
genocide on April 24 during his speech, asking him to not only refer
to Armenian pains but also those of the Ottoman Turks during World
War I, and to mention Turkey's proposal of establishing a joint
commission of historians and experts from both Turkey and Armenia
to study evidence for the events of 1915 in the archives of Turkey,
Armenia and other relevant countries around the world.
As a presidential candidate, Obama repeatedly vowed to recognize
the Armenian genocide once in office, voicing his commitment to
commemorating and ending genocide.
Since 2009, the Armenian diaspora in the US has waited for the
president to honor his promise. Obama's repeated failure to use the
word "genocide" in his Armenian Remembrance Day message has created
deep disappointment in the community.
The US has not officially recognized the Armenians' claim that there
was a genocide in eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1923. Before Obama's
presidency, US leaders blocked attempts to pass resolutions recognizing
the World War I-era killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.
Pointing to this fact, Oztarsu claimed, "For the US, it is normal to
make promises to gain the support of Armenian community during the
election period and leave them aside due to the strategic importance
of Turkey." Turkey is a strategic US ally whose significance has
increased in the last year due to their close cooperation over the
development of several crises in the surrounding region.
The Turkey-US security alliance, which includes cooperation on
counterterrorism and military training, has strengthened since the
deployment of US radar on Turkish soil as part of a NATO-backed
missile defense system designed to protect European members of the
NATO alliance from potential missile threats emanating from a region
boiling with security problems.
The two countries also aim to steer political developments in the
same direction in the Middle East, which is going through a political
transition process as a result of the Arab Spring revolutions, by
fostering democratic rule, a peaceful transition period and the rule
of law.
Turkey and the US are now jointly involved in solving the Iraqi
political crisis through dialogue and a commitment to the establishment
of a political system which safeguards the voice of all sects and
ethnicities.
Another hot issue is the question of the political solution in Syria.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Obama declared a common agenda
on the eve of a critical nuclear security meeting in Seoul in March
with regard to the Syrian crisis, marking the importance of uniting
the opposition against the brutal regime in Syria and providing
non-lethal aid to the dissident forces, including telecommunications
and medical supplies.
Turkey's intermediary role in the Iranian nuclear crisis has also been
appreciated, although the issue seems to be on the backburner in the
US due to ongoing events in Syria, but continues to bear significance
given the imminent contingency of an Israeli pre-emptive strike on
the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities. The US and Israel are
staunch allies and Obama has repeatedly pledged to protect Israeli
security over the issue. The latest nuclear talks between Iran and
the Western governments in Ä°stanbul last week were deemed as a last
and great opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, and
both sides appealed for Turkish assistance when a deadlock loomed
during the talks.
In remarks similar to Oztarsu's, Ä°lter Turan, professor of political
science at Ä°stanbul's Bilgi University and also an expert on US
politics, agreed that Obama will likely refrain from making statements
that could raise resentment in Turkey, considering their current
amicable relationship.
"The Armenian issue is not taking hold of discussions in the US
election; it is not a pivotal issue," Turan said, pointing to the
fact that the Armenian diaspora is less influential in the US than
it is in France.
Political observers in Turkey have commented that the French incumbent
President Nicolas Sarkozy tried his best to garner the Armenian vote by
giving full-fledged support to a draft bill initiated by a member from
his party last fall that would have criminalized denying the Armenians'
claims of genocide. The draft bill was deemed unconstitutional by
the French Constitutional Council in February.
Meanwhile, Oztarsu mentioned alleged support for Armenian claims from
the Jewish lobby in the US due to Turkey's critical stance against
Israel over the last decade. He believes this support could help
Armenians exert more influence in the House of Representatives for
the recognition of their claims in the upcoming years. "The Jewish
lobby is a very strong lobby in the US and the Armenian community is
closely following their critical attitude against Turkey," Oztarsu
asserted, estimating that the Jewish lobby will ratchet up efforts
for the recognition of the Armenian cause in the House.
Satisfying both Turkey and Armenian diaspora
In previous years, Obama found himself between a rock and a hard
place while trying to satisfy both Turkish and Armenian claims over
the events of 1915 to 1923.
Describing the events in his previous speeches as "Meds Yeghern",
which means "Great Calamity" in Armenian, Obama has not only drawn a
rebuff from both Turkey, who described the US president's wording as
one-sided, but also from the Armenian diaspora, given that he failed
to brand the events as genocide.
BarıÅ~_ Ozdal, an expert in the Armenian question and lecturer at
the international relations department of Bursa's Uludag University,
claimed that for Obama to use the Armenian term to refer to the
allegations is at the disadvantage of Turkey in the long-term.
"Using the Armenian word would negate the Turkish thesis on the
question, because the word has started to procure acceptance as
'genocide' in the terminology of international relations," Ozdal
proposed.
"Some terms are not politically neutral -- everyone remembers the
Holocaust when we use the word genocide, and we think of a system of
racial segregation against black people in South Africa when we say
apartheid," Ozdal said.