OBAMA TO MEET SARKISIAN BUT NOT ERDOGAN IN WASHINGTON
Hurriyet
http://www.hurriyetdailynews. com/n.php?n=obama-to-meet-sarkisian-but-not-erdoga n-2010-04-07
April 7 2010
Turkey
U.S. President Barack Obama is set to meet with Armenia’s president
on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in Washington, but no
meeting has yet been planned with Turkey’s leader, the White House’s
press secretary said.
Secretary Robert Gibbs announced which countries would participate
in the nuclear security summit on April 12-13 and which bilateral
meetings would take place with Obama during a Tuesday press conference
at the White House.
Earlier reports said Obama would host a trilateral meeting to also
include Erdogan and Sarkisian to give impetus to the slow-moving
normalization process between Turkey and Armenia.
Responding to a question on whether Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan would attend the meeting between Obama and Armenian
President Serge Sarkisian, Gibbs concisely said, "No meeting."
According to Gibbs, besides Sarkisian, Obama will meet the leaders
of China, Germany, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Africa
and Kazakhstan. His meeting with Sarkisian will focus on the recent
Armenia-Turkish thaw, Gibbs said.
However, a senior White House official, who wants to remain anonymous,
said they expect the president will have a chance to talk to Prime
Minister Erdogan as they will be seated next to each other at one of
the events.
Another source in Washington who is closely following the unfolding
nuclear security summit meeting’s agenda said, "This development could
be yet another reason for a new crisis between the two countries."
Omer TaÅ~_pınar, director of the Turkey Program at the Brookings
Institution, a Washington-based think tank, said the meeting between
Sarkisian and Obama might cover other issues beside the normalization
process.
The increasingly close relationship between Armenia and Iran,
including some energy deals, has raised eyebrows in Washington,
TaÅ~_pınar said, adding that it is possible Obama will raise this
issue during his meeting with Sarkisian.