Roadmap to Nowhere or New Delay Tactic: Genocide
Recognition in 2015?
13-04-2010 10:30:00 | USA | Articles and Analyses
LOS ANGELES, APRIL 13, NOYAN TAPAN-ARMENIAN TODAY. Faced
with deadlock in ratifying the Armenia-Turkey Protocols, the
major powers are desperately looking for a face-saving way out
of the current dilemma. France, Russia and the United States
have invested far too much time and effort to walk away from the
negotiated and signed, but not ratified, "deal of the century."
At the time of writing this column, the President of
Armenia and the Prime Minister of Turkey had been summoned to
Washington by Pres. Obama for a last ditch effort to rescue the
Protocols or at a minimum create an illusion of progress in the
reconciliation process. The slightest gesture or even the
promise of an improvement in Armenia-Turkey relations or the
Artsakh (Karabagh) conflict would give Pres. Obama the required
fig leaf to cover up his broken promise on the Armenian
Genocide.
It will soon be clear if White House pressure on Armenia
and Turkey would result in any positive movement, such as
limited opening of the Armenia-Turkey border, before ratifying
the Protocols. Azerbaijan’s President was deliberately left out
of the Washington Summit in order to prevent him from
undermining U.S. mediating efforts. In the event of Turkish
recalcitrance, Armenia’s President would have no choice but to
withdraw his country’s signature from the Protocols, blaming
Turkey for putting preconditions and demanding that Artsakh be
handed to Azerbaijan.
In an attempt to break the deadlock, Thomas de Waal, Senior
Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,
issued a "Policy Brief" on April 9, just before the start of the
Washington Summit. The report, "Armenia and Turkey: Bridging the
Gap," suggests five "goodwill gestures" that Turkey needs to
make in order to keep reconciliation with Armenia alive.
-- An opening of the Armenia-Turkey border for
noncommercial travelers;
-- A limited opening of a zone next to the Armenia-Turkey
border that contains the medieval Armenian city of Ani, now just
inside Turkish territory. This would allow Armenian tourists to
visit the ancient site.
-- A Turkish initiative to fully open and digitize the
Ottoman archives containing the official Ottoman records of the
events of 1915 to 1921.
-- A Turkish government initiative to invite diaspora
Armenians to visit the ancient Armenian heritage sites of
Anatolia.
-- The opening of a Turkish Airlines route between Istanbul
and Yerevan.
In return, de Waal suggests that Armenia pledge "to end the
isolation of Nakhichevan once the Turkish-Armenian border
opens."
After offering the aforementioned simplistic ideas, de Waal
turns to the Armenian Genocide recognition issue and tries to
come up with a long-term solution to the perennial
Armenian-American lobbying efforts which "hobble" the United
States. He calls the confrontation in Congress on this issue
between Armenians and Turks, "grubby political bargaining."
According to de Waal, Pres. Obama’s broken promise on the
Armenian Genocide and his use of "Meds Yeghern" (Great Calamity)
as a substitute for Genocide is "a dignified formula."
Here is what de Waal suggests:
“In order to move away from this annual agony, it makes
sense to reframe the Armenian-Turkish issue within a longer
perspective. The coming centenary of the Armenian holocaust in
five years’ time in 2015 and the growing debate within Turkey on
the "Armenian question" gives impetus to this approach. In 2015
-- whether the Turks like it or not -- the world will mark the
anniversary of the Armenian tragedy. The president could deliver
a message on April 24, 2010, in which he notes that the
centenary commemorations are now five years away and pledges
that, if still in office, he will join in those events (perhaps
even in Yerevan), but in which he also promises the Turks a
little peace until then by affirming his faith in the internal
debate in Turkey. Obama could say, "We hope to mark this tragic
date with our Turkish friends, and not without them," and aspire
to be a catalyst for Armenian-Turkish reconciliation."
What de Waal is suggesting is simply a ploy to bury the
Armenian Genocide issue for another 5 years, while creating a
breathing space for the ratification of the defunct Protocols.
Before Pres. Obama could be trusted to keep any new
promises, he needs to uphold the ones that he has already made
and broken. Besides, what guarantees do we have that the
President will be re-elected for a second term, and even if he
is, that he will keep his pledge!
By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier