Armenia warmly welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama's encouragement of the steps Turkey and Armenian have taken to tackle bilateral problems and his stand that he has not changed his views on the controversial Armenian genocide issue.
Yerevan Press Club chairman Boris Navasartyan said he welcomed Obama's remarks in Turkey, but said the real weight of the matter was on Turkish and Armenian leaders.
"The important thing is the step Armenia and Turkey are willing to take without any pressure. The step needs to be persuasive," he said.
Armenia argues the death of Armenians in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire is genocide, while Turkey, admitting hundreds of thousands of Armenians and Turks died during the upheaval caused by World War One, stringently denies it constitutes genocide.
When asked at a joint press conference with President Abdullah Gul if he will support a U.S. congressional resolution that would label the 1915 events as genocide, Obama said, "My views are on the record, and I have not changed those views."
During his campaign for president, Obama promised to support the resolution and said he recognized the massacres as genocide. His election had raised the hope among the Armenian diaspora that he would recognize it as the president.
In his address to Turkish Parliament, Obama acknowledged the sensitive nature of the matter and said, "The best way forward for the Turkish and Armenian people is a process that works through the past in a way that is honest, open and constructive."
The chairman of the Gyumri Journalists' Club Asparez, Levon Barseghyan, praised Obama's statements, saying, "Steps taken by Obama are praiseworthy in terms of the normalization of the Turkish-Armenian relations."
Caucasus Institute President Alexander Isgandaryan said it had been apparent that Obama would not risk relations with Turkey by referring to the murders as genocide in his April 24 statement. "All candidates for president make the same kinds of statements during their campaign," said Isgardaryan, but added that he found Obama's statements in Turkey positive. "U.S. support for the opening of the border between Turkey and Armenia and the establishment of relations is crucial," he said.
Giro Manoyan from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaksutyun Bureau International Secretariat described Obama's remarks in Turkey on the matter as "positive but inadequate." "I find it positive because he openly said his opinions on the 1915 matter had not changed under the roof of the Turkish Parliament as the Turkish president was watching. He also referred to the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border. What I find inadequate is his failure to tell Turkey to recognize the genocide," said Manoyan.
US CLOCK CLICKING FOR TURKS AND ARMENIANS
The U.S. president has urged Turkey and Armenia to speed up the normalization of relations, referring to the critical April 24 commemoration day and the pressure from Armenian lobbies to qualify the 1915 killings as genocide.
President Barack Obama implied he wished neither to harm the ongoing peace efforts between Ankara and Yerevan, nor suffer a major backlash at home.
President Obama had a bilateral meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian before Foreign Minister Ali Babacan joined them for a meeting on the margins of a reception in Istanbul late Monday, the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review has learned. Obama confirmed that his view on genocide recognition has not changed but he refrained from spelling out the word, and encouraged Babacan and Nalbandian to quickly seal a deal. But it is still not clear whether Obama will qualify the 1915 killings as genocide or support the resolution, a senior Turkish official said.
Meanwhile Foreign Minister Ali Babacan reiterated Ankara's concerns yesterday in response to a question during closing remarks of the Alliance of Civilizations summit just before Obama departed from Istanbul. "The aim is to normalize relations. Both sides are content with the current situation. Our expectation from third-party countries is to support this process," Babacan said.
Turkish and Armenian officials have been holding high-level talks for a while to normalize ties, and the two sides are close to announcing a deal aimed at reopening their border and restoring relations. But the positive atmosphere in the last few weeks lost important ground when Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev displayed his discomfort with the possible opening of the Turkey-Armenia border and boycotted the summit. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's weekend statements on Karabakh to restore relations with Azerbaijan in turn risked Nalbandian's attendance at the summit. Despite a half-day hesitation, Nalbandian took a later flight to Istanbul to mark his country's commitment to the ongoing reconciliation talks, Armenian sources told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review. The same sources likened the process to that of Cyprus and underlined that Armenia will not be the party to leave the table.
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan's travel to Yerevan to attend the Black Sea Cooperation, or BSEC, summit April 16 was earlier reported as a possible date for the announcement of a deal between Turkey and Armenia. However, one diplomatic source who wished to remain unnamed said given the emotional nature of the conflict, a third-party country or an international organization shall be considered to host a possible announcement instead of Ankara and Yerevan.
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