‘NEITHER OBAMA NOR MCCAIN PROBLEM SOLVERS’

Turkish Daily News
June 11 2008

ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News

There is a risk that if Barack Obama becomes president, he might use
the word "genocide" for the events of 1915 within his first year,
said the director of a prominent think tank.

Sedat Laciner, director of the International Strategic Research
Organization, or USAK, warned that if Democratic presidential candidate
Obama wins the election, he will become the first U.S. president to
classify the events as "genocide."

He pointed out the strength of the Armenian lobby and that the greatest
support for American-Armenians came from the Democratic Party.

"If Turkish-American relations are going well, the Armenian issue
is just a tangent, it can be easily stopped. But if there is so much
as a small problem in our relations then the Armenian issue will act
like gas thrown on a fire," said Laciner.

Laciner also warned of American involvement in the region: Turkey
should not leave developments in the Middle East to America whim,
said Laciner adding that he did not feel that either Obama or McCain
were "problem solvers."

"We will face a new United States. This will greatly increase
risks. This sort of change might increase the uncertainties in
America’s plans in the Middle East, but it will also give more
maneuverable space for local forces," he said.

Laciner added that Turkey must plant its feet more firmly on the
ground, "It must create solutions in the Middle East, sometimes
assisting the U.S., and sometimes taking the initiative and using
incentives to for regional projects, politics and solutions."