Yegparian: 10 Reasons Why Obama Should NOT Travel to Armenia on April 24

I must give credit to fellow columnist, Harut Sassounian, for inspiring this piece with his “10 Reasons Why Obama Should Travel to Armenia on April 24” that appeared last week. He took a positive approach. My disgust with the Obama Administration’s extensively anti-Armenian, pro-Turkish, and pro-Azerbaijani policies has resulted in the cynicism, sarcasm, and snark that mark this piece. I ask readers’ indulgence and tolerance in this respect. Maybe reverse psychology will work on this president who came into office inspiring such great hope, but beyond passage of “Obamacare” has been an utter disappointment, not because of bad policy (in most cases) but because of a lack of backbone.

Here are my 10 reasons for Air Force One to stay away from Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport:

1) If Obama goes and pays proper respect to Armenians, genocide victims, and the Americans who raised millions of dollars to save the lives of Armenian orphans, he would have to accord appropriate and proper respect to the Orphan Rug woven by young genocide survivors and delivered as a gift of gratitude to President Calvin Coolidge. We wouldn’t want him flip-flopping on policy, would we? 2) By visiting Armenia on this Centennial occasion, Obama might actually have to resort to using the rigor of his legal training as a constitutional scholar and use his brain to affirm what numerous other U.S. officials and bodies have done in the past, recognize the genocide for what it legally is. Given how much faster presidents age while in office, we certainly wouldn’t want to stress him any more, would we?

3) Since Obama has ruined his reputation among Armenians extensively, regaining that trust will be extremely difficult. Instead, he might end up catching a shoe with his face while visiting Armenia, home of the oldest known shoe. We wouldn’t want Armenia’s reputation sullied thus, nor Obama’s by having him become like George “Dubya” Bush, would we?

4) If Obama visited Armenia to mark the Centennial and in so doing helped put Armenia-Turkey relations on a rational, justice-based path to the future, he would damage the huge “reconciliation” industry that the U.S. has. We wouldn’t want him (or Armenians) to become known as an impediment to an improved economy at this time of a still-weak recovery, would we?

5) On such a visit, should Obama urge Turkey to lift its blockade (which under international law is an act of war) of Armenia while viewing the majesty of Mt. Ararat, he would further damage his friendship with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. We know “it’s lonely at the top” so we wouldn’t want Obama to lose what few “friends” he has left, would we?

6) If, in light of Azerbaijan’s ever-more-frequent border attacks, Obama stressed Washington’s strong support for a peaceful resolution to the Karabagh conflict, he would ruin his reputation as a (subtle) war-monger—think Syria, drones, and kill orders. We wouldn’t want to tarnish his name in this arena, would we?

7) If Obama were to use such a visit as a counter-balance to Armenia’s joining the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, he would once again be demonstrating good sense, and contradicting current, very disruptive American encirclement/agitation policies in Russia’s “near-abroad” (i.e., Russia’s perceived sphere of influence)—think Ukraine and Azerbaijan. We wouldn’t want an American president to be perceived as inconsistent, would we?

8) Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted Yerevan’s invitation to attend Genocide Centennial commemorations, so he and Obama might meet there, since the latter is not planning on going to Moscow for the World War II Victory Day celebrations. Of course, this absence is meant to serve as sign of disapproval over Russia’s activities in Ukraine. But, just by meeting with Putin, Obama would be giving in a bit, which could be seen as an admission of error on Ukrainian policy. We wouldn’t want an American president to be perceived as anything but infallible, would we?

9) A visit to Yerevan on such an important occasion would be a goodwill gesture (or sop) to the Armenian community in the U.S. But, again this would be at odds with Obama’s fairly consistent dissing of this very community. We wouldn’t want inconsistency in President Obama’s domestic policies any more than in foreign policy, would we?

10) Obama would be the first U.S. president to visit the Republic of Armenia. He is already the first African-American president. We wouldn’t want him to be greedy and grab too many firsts, would we?

Please consider these profound “problems” that would result from Obama accepting the invitation to properly honor the Armenian Genocide’s victims and actually honor his pre-election pledge, and let him know what you think.

Garen Yegparian

Garen Yegparian

Asbarez Columnist
Garen Yegparian is a fat, bald guy who has too much to say and do for his own good. So, you know he loves mouthing off weekly about anything he damn well pleases to write about that he can remotely tie in to things Armenian. He's got a checkered past: principal of an Armenian school, project manager on a housing development, ANC-WR Executive Director, AYF Field worker (again on the left coast), Operations Director for a telecom startup, and a City of LA employee most recently (in three different departments so far). Plus, he's got delusions of breaking into electoral politics, meanwhile participating in other aspects of it and making sure to stay in trouble. His is a weekly column that appears originally in Asbarez, but has been republished to the Armenian Weekly for many years.
Garen Yegparian

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3 Comments

  1. I disagree with Garen Yegparian’s writup on why Pres. Obama should not travel to Armenia on April 24th. First of all, I personally think if invited he would not go because of pressure by the Turkish Government and the American Jewish Lobby whom the Turks use. They are the main reason why our Genocide has not been recognized along with the State of Israel. If for any reason he does go, that would mean automatic recognition by him on our well documented Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923. We shall wait & see. Stephan

  2. Typical rant by a person who lives in a shell and does not see the big picture. And a general problem with the Armenian lobby, which cares only about one narrow issue and hence is not regarded seriously in Washington. Just because Obama tries to mend ties with Iran in the beginning of XX!st century is a good enough reason for Armenians to love him (among other things he does for Americans, since he is American President). Armenia’s survival nowadays depends on access to the world and gaining at least some independence from Russia. This can be achieved if Iran re-integrates to the World order. And if Armenia, with its dwindling 2 million population gets a relief, economic stimulus and source of energy alternative, I don’t really care if Obama does a stupid stint to amaze Mr Yegparian.

    • I agree that the Armenian community should move away from single-issue voting. I am also dumbfounded that Mr. Yegparian would take pride in writing with such “snark”, as he puts it.

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