BARACK OBAMA URGES TURKEY AND ARMENIA TO ‘DEAL WITH TRAGIC HISTORY
Mark Tran

guardian.co.uk
Monday 6 April 2009 13.12 BST

‘US president downplays his support for Congress resolution accusing
Turkey of 1915 genocide against Armenians

Barack Obama today downplayed his support for a controversial US
Congress resolution accusing Turkey of carrying out a genocide against
the Armenian people in 1915.

Speaking during a visit to Ankara, the US president – who
has previously described the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians as
"genocide" – said he had not changed his view but had been encouraged
by negotiations between Turkey and Armenia on the issue.

Obama told a joint news conference with the Turkish president, Abdullah
Gul, that he did not want to focus on his own views but wanted to be
a partner in efforts between Armenia and Turkey to come to terms with
what happened.

He supported an Armenian genocide resolution put before Congress
during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Turkey fears he will continue this backing as president in a break
with his two immediate predecessors, George Bush and Bill Clinton.

Ankara has warned that the resolution could strain ties and harm
efforts to improve relations with Armenia.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in an event
widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey denies that the deaths were genocide , saying those killed
were victims of civil war. It also claims the number of deaths has
been inflated.

Gul said the issue was historical and not legal or political,
and invited the Americans or French – France has been vocal about
the deaths – to be part of a joint Turkish-Armenian commission
investigating what happened.

Obama said he wanted to encourage those talks, not tilt them in favour
of one country.

"If they can move forward and deal with a difficult and tragic
history, then I think the entire world should encourage that," the
US president said.

He added that he wanted the US and Turkey to build a "model
partnership" between a predominantly Christian country and a mainly
Muslim nation.

Turkey is seen as important diplomatic player because of its role as
honest broker in the Middle East conflict.

It has relations with Israel and Hamas and also has good ties with
Iran, with which the US wants to improve relations.

Obama was spending two days in Turkey as he wrapped up an eight-day
international trip that took in the G20 summit in London along with
stops in France, Germany and the Czech Republic, where he announced
ambitious plans to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

In Prague yesterday, Obama also urged the EU to let Turkey join
the 27-member club, a particularly contentious issue for Germany
and France.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, point edly said after Obama’s
remarks that the decision was for the EU, not the US, to make.

Turkey is a member of both the G20 and Nato, in which it has the
alliance’s second biggest army after the US, and is trying to get
into the EU with the help of the US.