TURKEY-ARMENIA DEAL COULD ALLEVIATE US HEADACHE
By Desmond Butler

Associated Press Worldstream
October 9, 2009 Friday 5:11 AM GMT

As a power broker in the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia,
Turkey is an ally of great importance for the United States. For
decades, however, relations have been roiled by Armenian-Americans,
who have doggedly pursued U.S. recognition of the World War I-era
killings of Armenians as genocide.

That may soon change.

A historic deal to resume diplomatic ties and open the border between
Turkey and Armenia, expected to be signed Saturday, could alleviate
that longtime headache for U.S. diplomats.

Recognizing that objections from Armenians living thousands of miles
away have a political impact, Armenian and U.S. officials have been
seeking support for the deal by the Armenia diaspora, which has often
taken a harder, more nationalist line on relations with Turkey than
the Armenian government. Now some major Armenian-American groups have
indeed praised the deal amid a rancorous debate within the community.

The backing of some influential groups is a welcome development
for the Obama administration, which has pushed for Turkish-Armenian
reconciliation.

Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey project at CSIS, a Washington
think tank, said the United States has been pivotal in the Swiss-led
mediation between the two countries.

"The U.S. administration and the Turkish government both wish to
defuse the tensions associated with annual efforts to get the U.S. to
recognize the events of 1915 as genocide and view normalization as
the best way of doing so," he said.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed
by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey
denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been
inflated, and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

In April, U.S. President Barack Obama backtracked on a campaign pledge
to declare the killings genocide, explaining that he did not want to
upset the diplomacy under way between Turkey and Armenia. The move
was widely criticized by Armenian-American groups that supported him
as a candidate.

Many Armenians remain insistent that Turkey needs to accept
responsibility for Ottoman crimes, as the Ottoman empire imploded
almost 100 years ago, before relations can improve. Others have been
swayed by the potential benefit for landlocked Armenia of renewed
diplomatic ties and the opening of the countries’ borders.

Reflecting the importance of the diaspora, Armenian President Serge
Sarkisian just completed a weeklong visit with communities in Paris,
New York, Los Angeles and Beirut. More ethnic Armenians live outside
Armenia, and the diaspora have clout in Yerevan and foreign capitals,
including Washington.

During a trip to New York and Los Angeles that began Friday, Sarkisian
was dogged by protesters and hotly berated by the chairman of one
group, The Armenian National Committee of America for pursuing the
deal. In a meeting in New York, Ken Hachikian called Sarkisian’s
efforts naive, reckless and irresponsible. He also accused
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of pressuring the
Armenian government into accepting the deal.

Five other groups, including the Armenian Assembly of America and
Eastern and Western diocese of the Armenian Church of America expressed
support for Sarkisian’s efforts. The joint statement also praised
Turkey, calling a draft agreement "a marked change from the past."

The groups’ statement praised Turkey for agreeing to resume ties
and open the border without conditions, a shift that led to the
breakthrough. Turkey closed the border to protest the Armenian invasion
of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in neighboring Azerbaijan, in 1993.

"For the first time Turkey has publicly committed to normalize
relations without preconditions, which the United States has actively
supported," said Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian
Assembly of America.

"This is an important step."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress