OBAMA BREAKS CAMPAIGN PLEDGE TO PRESERVE TURKISH RELATIONS
Daniel Dombey
FT
April 25 2009 03:00
Barack Obama broke a campaign pledge when he issued a statement
yesterday that did not use the word -"genocide" in commemorating the
massacre of up to 1.5m Armenians more than 90 years ago.
The US president’s move, which will be seen as a sign of realpolitik,
highlights the administration’s emphasis on good relations with -Turkey
and its encouragement of a diplomatic initiative in the Caucusus.
For many years Mr Obama has favoured describing the Ottoman Empire-era
killings as genocide and during the campaign he promised to do so if
elected president.
But in the statement issued by the White House yesterday, the day of
Armenian remembrance observed each year, he said merely that his own
view "of what occurred in 1915 . . . has not changed".
He described the killings as one of the "great atrocities of the 20th
century" and referred to the "Meds Yeghern" – the Armenian term for
the massacres.
Mr Obama’s statement -follows similar side-steps by former presidents.
George W. Bush shrank from -campaign promises and denounced the
"forced exile and annihilation" of the Armenians. Bill Clinton also
avoided the word genocide.
Expectations had in-creased in recent weeks that the president would
pull back from his pledge to describe the killings as genocide,
in spite of a campaign by many US lawmakers.
Turkey has long signalled that relations between Washington and Ankara
could suffer if the US used the word and more recently suggested
that efforts to establish normal relations with its neighbour Armenia
could also be affected.
Turkey and Armenia this week declared they had made progress towards
establishing diplomatic ties and opening their border, although no
agreement has yet been signed.
During his trip to Turkey this month, Mr Obama said he did not wanted
to focus on his own views of the massacres but on Armenian-Turkish
relations, a sentiment he repeated yesterday.
Meanwhile, many US lawmakers are continuing a bid to censure the
killings as genocide in a House of Representatives resolution, an
initiative backed by Nancy Pelosi, House speaker. Some argue that Mr
Obama’s backtracking will only make them redouble their efforts.
As of yesterday, the congressional resolution had 108 backers in the
435-member House. A similar measure in 2007 counted on more than
230 supporters before efforts to pass it collapsed in the face of
Turkish opposition.
"It is long past time for the US government to formally recognise
the Armenian genocide," Ms Pelosi said yesterday.