mericas-moral-credibility.html

Renegade

April 9, 2009

America’s moral credibility

This past year Candidate Obama promised to Armenian-American voters
that that the Armenian genocide of 1915 under his administration would
finally be recognized. However as the now-President Obama met with
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan many question whether
those promises will be shuffled to the back of the deck, given the
"strategic" importance of Turkey within his plans.

As noted in the Economist, Mr Obama called Turkey a `critical’ ally
and an important part of Europe, sending off a number of alarms within
communities across the world.

Per the article Mr Obama, "suggested that Turkey’s recent efforts to
reopen its border and re-establish diplomatic ties with Armenia should
not be overshadowed by America’s position on the (genocide) issue",
effectively pushing his promise to the back burner.

Whether the President uphold Candidate Obama’s promises remains to be
seen but one that will cast the dye in this administration but that is
probably best summoned up in the same Economist article:

"Many friends of Turkey hope that Mr Obama will stick by his pledge on
the Armenian genocide. They say that would restore America’s moral
credibility and would allow it to draw attention to Turkey’s patchy
human-rights record."