Today’s Zaman , Turkey
March 13 2009

Obama’s choice to visit Turkey `timely’ and `smart,’ say analysts

US President Barack Obama is expected to visit Ankara and
İstanbul on April 6-7.

US-based analysts specializing in US-Turkish relations consider
President Barack Obama’s choice to visit Turkey shortly after taking
office as a timely and smart decision that will help improve the
bilateral relationship between the two NATO allies, while also
bringing benefits to each country vis-à-vis their relations
with the Middle Eastern countries.

Mark Parris, a former US ambassador to Turkey, describes Obama’s
decision as part of "a smart, timely series of moves on the part of
the new administration," while Zeyno Baran, a Turkish analyst at the
Hudson Institute, highlights the importance of the fact that Obama
will not visit Turkey as part of a Middle East tour, since this is,
according to her, "a clear sign" showing that he sees Turkey as part
of the European picture.

"I suspect that as his new foreign policy team settles in, they’ve
come to realize that some nations can help (or hurt) them more than
others, and they’ve realized it makes sense to make an early,
sustained investment in Turkey, rather than play catch-up later
on. They are right, of course," Parris, now a visiting fellow at the
Brookings Institution, replies when asked why he believes Obama has
decided to visit Turkey so early in his tenure as president.

For Ambassador Edward Djerejian, the founding director of the James
A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, Obama’s
choice to visit Turkey on one of his very first trips overseas as
president is "a very important decision underscoring the importance of
the US-Turkey relationship."

The visit, which has a great deal of symbolism, is also a signal of
the importance that Obama attaches to relations with the Muslim world,
Djerejian notes. "Turkey is a Muslim country that has a secular model
of governance and can be a very effective bridge between the East and
the West. This is an important step. Whatever he says in Turkey —
beyond the bilateral relationship, but to the Muslim world — will be
noted. This trip will be a major public diplomacy success," he
asserts.

President Obama will visit Turkey in the coming weeks, probably on
April 6-7. The global dispute over Iran’s controversial nuclear
program is expected to be one of the main issues on the agenda of the
talks, in addition to a possible Turkish role in the US troop pullout
from Iraq and Turkish contributions to international military efforts
to stabilize Afghanistan in the face of a rising Taliban insurgency.

For David Mack of the Middle East Institute (MEI), also a former
deputy assistant to the US secretary of state, the visit is a
recognition by the US and the Obama administration of Turkey’s
importance both as a NATO ally and as a progressive Muslim country
that has a very important relationship in the Middle East, in Central
Asia and the Caucasus. "It’s a big change from unilateralist
policies. He wants to deal in a more cooperative way with our
traditional allies and the new relationship with Turkey will be based
upon mutual respect and mutual interest," says Mack.

Armenian issue

James Holmes, head of the leading US business association the
American-Turkish Council (ATC), meanwhile, stresses how Turks are
basically apprehensive over the issues of Armenian resolution,
referring to the question of whether or not the Obama administration
views the 1915 killings of Anatolian Armenians committed by the
Ottoman Turks as genocide. How the Obama administration might deal
with any plans in Congress to revive a resolution describing it as
such is one thorny issue in the near future of bilateral relations
between Ankara and Washington.

"I believe this visit is ultimately positive for the handling of the
issue of the Armenian resolution. President Obama will certainly want
to deal with this issue and in his foreign policy he will want to
engage in processes that have the advantage of promoting Armenian-US
and Armenian-Turkish relations as well. And I think he understands
that this can’t be done if he engages in policies and actions that
have the consequence of alienating the Turks. And alienating the Turks
is a very easy thing to do if you mishandle the Armenian resolution,"
says Holmes.

"He [Obama] can put the Armenian diaspora in a position to recognize
that there is the political interest of the diaspora on the one hand,
and there is the political interest of the Armenian nation on the
other. The political interests of the Armenian nation are certainly in
reconciliation with Turkey. I think President Obama in the end will be
commended by the people of Armenia and the Armenian-Americans if he
can engage in a policy that results in a better position for Armenia
within the region," Holmes says.

13 March 2009, Friday
ALI H.ASLAN WASHINGTON

US lawmakers pressure Obama on Armenian issue

Several US lawmakers have written to President Barack Obama urging him
to follow up on campaign statements and label the 1915 killings of
Armenians as genocide.

The pressure on Obama comes ahead of an expected presidential trip to
Turkey, which has warned that such declarations by the United States
would damage relations.

Ronald Reagan was the only U.S. president to publicly call the
killings genocide. Others avoided the term out of concern for the
sensitivities of Turkey, an important NATO ally.

Four members of the House of Representatives urged Obama to make a
statement ahead of the 94th anniversary of the killings on April
24. "As a presidential candidate, you were … forthright in
discussing your support for genocide recognition, saying that ‘America
deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide
and responds forcefully to all genocides.’ We agree with you
completely," the letter said.

It was signed by Democrats Adam Schiff of California and Frank Pallone
of New Jersey, and Republicans George Radanovich of California and
Mark Kirk of Illinois. Washington Reuters

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