Turkey has become so pivotal to US goals in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East that President Barack Obama included it on his first overseas tour. But relations between the countries could be at risk unless Obama is willing to break a campaign promise to describe as "genocide" the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks almost a century ago.
"Administration officials are considering postponing a presidential statement, citing progress toward a thaw in relations between Turkey and neighboring Armenia. Further signs of warming -- such as talk of reopening border crossings -- would strengthen arguments that a US statement could imperil the progress," the Los Angeles Times said in a report posted from Washington. The LA Times is published in Los Angeles, where there is a strong Armenian-American community, and is distributed throughout the western United States.
"At this moment, our focus is on how, moving forward, the United States can help Armenia and Turkey work together to come to terms with the past," Michael Hammer, a spokesman for the National Security Council (NSC), told the daily. He said the administration was "encouraged" by improvements in relations and believed it was "important that the countries have an open and honest dialogue about the past."
'A man of his word'
The report sparked a rapid reaction by an influential US-based Armenian lobby organization. In a swift reaction to the report, Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), posted a statement on the organization's Web site.
"During Barack Obama's years in the US Senate and in the months leading up to his election last November as president, he clearly characterized the Armenian Genocide as a thoroughly documented instance of genocide, forcefully called for US recognition of this crime and consistently pledged to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide if elected to the White House. We know the president to be a man of his word, respect his commitment to ending the cycle of genocide and look forward to his finally bringing an end to US complicity in Turkey's shameful campaign of genocide denial," Hamparian said in his brief statement.
ANCA, on its Web site, highlighted remarks by a congressional advocate of a resolution for Washington's official recognition of genocide allegations.
"The argument that some are making now is only the latest incarnation of the same old tired refrain: that we should recognize the genocide -- just not this year," Rep. Adam B. Schiff, one of the Democratic sponsors of the resolution, told the LA Times.
The daily also spoke with Mark Parris, a former US ambassador to Turkey, on the same issue. Obama's visit to Turkey has become risky for the administration, said Parris, referring to Obama's upcoming visit to Turkey in early April, days before April 24, when the new US president is expected to make th e traditional statement to mark the annual Armenian Remembrance Day.
"Plopping the president down over there really does raise the stakes," said Parris, now co-director of the Brookings Institution's program on Turkey. "Now it can't be overlooked.
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