ANKARA, Turkey (A.W.)—On March 8, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said in an interview to the Turkish television channel NTV that there is a risk President Barack Obama would recognize the Armenian Genocide. He also warned against such a move, noting it would affect the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia.
“I still see a risk,” he said. “Mr. Obama made the promise five times in a row.” However, he added, “The new American administration understands Turkey’s sensibilities better today.”
According to Babacan,”It would not be rational for a third country to take a position on this topic. A bad step by the United States would only worsen the process” of reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey.
According to the Anatolian News Agency, during a joint news conference after meeting with Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Alejandro Hamed Franco on March 8, Babacan said the genocide issue was on the agenda during U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Turkey.
President Obama is scheduled to visit Turkey on April 5.
Obama to Visit Turkey in a Month
On March 7, before meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Clinton announced that Obama would visit Turkey in a month.
“President Obama will be visiting Turkey within the next month or so. The exact date will be announced shortly,” she said during a joint press conference with Babacan.
According to Clinton, Obama’s visit will be “a reflection of the value we place on our friendship with Turkey.”
A senior official from the Obama Administration confirmed recently that Turkey will be the first Muslim country Obama visits since being elected.
Clinton, who is in Ankara to hold talks with high-ranking Turkish officials, said her trip aims at emphasizing the work the U.S. and Turkey must do “on behalf of peace, prosperity, and progress.” According to the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News, “Diplomatic sources said the efforts to have the U.S. Congress recognize the Armenian claims regarding the 1915 incidents were not discussed in the meeting.”
Also on March 7, the State Department issued a joint statement signed by Clinton and Babacan reaffirming the importance of U.S.-Turkey ties.
According to a BBC correspondent, Turkey will try to ensure Obama does not refer to the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 as “genocide” in his statement on April 24.
On Jan. 19, in a statement on the importance of relations between the U.S. and Armenia, Obama said, “As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”
Although there is a wide consensus among Armenian Genocide and Holocaust scholars that the genocide took place, the Turkish state continues to vehemently deny that a state-sponsored campaign took the lives of approximately 1.5 million Armenians during World War I. The Armenians, the official Turkish argument goes, were the victims of ethnic strife, or war and starvation, just like many Muslims living in the Ottoman Empire. Turkey invests millions of dollars in the United States to lobby against resolutions recognizing the genocide and to produce denialist literature. Moreover, many Turkish intellectual who have spoken against the denial have been charged for “insulting Turkishness” under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.
Turkish Consul General of Los Angeles Hakan Tekin predicted in June 2008, that Obama would not recognize the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2009. Check out the YouTube clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNsNSD3x328
Any Turk who can read English can go to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and get the National Geographic issues of 1915 and will see all the articles written about the atrocities, starvation, killings and deportation the Turkish government organized to rape a civilized Armenian Christian population.Turks as well as Germans should be accountable. O’ civilized world let me spit on your face.
It really hurts when your own history is NOT recognized. How can we forgive and move forward when the Turks and most of the world do not know our history and our difficulty in survival.
For some reason, all “-an” “-yan” lastnamed people who speak english with American firstnames are in favour of this bill as if rest of Americans (200 Million some) care about it. You guys hiding behind American citizenship, trying to charge another nation for something that you did not even visit and see by yourself and keep doing the propaganda. You might have lost your ancestors but many Turks and Kurds lost theirs due to your slaughtering, bloody Armenian ancestor gangs. When those who destroy the villages, rape women, kill babies are charged with deportation, it becomes ‘genocide’ in your Book. Be honest and man stop weeping at the doors of your brothers. You killed people and your people were killed/deported in return, because that was a WAR. Come to your senses and ask these questions to yourselves;
1- If Ottoman was all about destroying Armanians, was there a bigger power in the world in 1600s, 1700s, 1800s? Those years, Ottoman was on the rise but Why 1915? Why wait till 1915 and then try to wipe off another nation? Why share all the streets, plates and everything with Armenian neighbours? Why keep letting daughters and sons get married with Armenians?
2- Mr. Joseph wants us to check Washington DC for the issues 1915. Was there internet at the time? Direct line between Ottoman and USA? For God’s sake, Ottoman has even limited connection to its own cities and you are finding those in USA papers??
3- MORE IMPORTANTLY, Adelina, if you are so much after your history, why don’t you push your brothers in Armenia to open the historical resources? Why don’t you push your Russian brothers to open their historical papers? You all know, Turkey opened it and it is WIDE open to all of you who want to research Armenian history in Turkey. No! Instead, you are after a ‘genocide bill’ to get billions of dollars out of Turkey’s treasury in return of your so called losses. Who should Turks sue?? Armeani? Who did massacare only 15 years ago?
I am sure you will not ask or answer these questions but I am writing to the history. Hopefully admins will be enough democrat and open minded to pusblish it.
“I am sure you will not ask or answer these questions but I am writing to the history. Hopefully admins will be enough democrat and open minded to pusblish it.”
Dear Mr. Otken:
I suggest you read this letter from the International Assocation of Genocide Scholars. Perhaps true academic scholarship will open your mind to the truth. But somehow I doubt it.
http://www.anca.org/assets/graphics/2009/agr09/iags_obama_030709.pdf