Engaging Turkey

Published: Saturday March 14, 2009

President Barack Obama will be visiting Turkey shortly. He is expected to attend the April 6-8 Istanbul summit of the Alliance of Civilizations, an initiative launched recently by Spain and Turkey with the blessing of the United Nations.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was in Turkey last week as part of a trip to Europe and the Middle East.

The two visits in short succession so early in Mr. Obama's tenure are an indication of the Obama administration's welcome commitment to mending frayed alliances in general and reaching out to majority-Muslim countries in particular. They also indicate how important the Obama administration considers Turkey for U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Some, including people in our community, will be concerned about these visits, seeing a vigorous U.S.-Turkey relationship as a negative thing. Despite the many positive aspects of a strong U.S.-Turkey relationship and the potential benefits to the both the United States and Armenia, many feel that Turkey is not deserving. Certainly, Turkey is among the U.S. allies with a troublesome track record - both in terms of human rights and in terms of reliability as an ally. And for Armenia and Armenians, Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide, its land blockade, its military alliance with Azerbaijan, and its complete solidarity with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh not-so-frozen conflict warrant our highest concern and vigilance.  Nevertheless, we are favorably inclined toward engagement with Turkey. Such engagement makes it possible to raise difficult issues, urge constructive action, and see a relationship to go through a tough patch without unraveling.

Since Mr. Obama's visit will probably take place just a couple of weeks before April 24, the question inevitably arises: will the Turkish authorities be successful in persuading the president to avoid acknowledging the Genocide this April 24?

The answer is, not necessarily.

As it happens, the State Department issued its annual country-by-country report on human rights only two weeks before Mrs. Clinton arrived in Turkey. The report criticized Turkey's human rights record, as it should have. Turkey's laws and practices on ethnic and religious minorities do not meet democratic standards. Not surprisingly, anti-minority intolerance is endemic. Did pointing out such deficiencies weaken the U.S.-Turkey relationship? Not at all. Indeed, Mrs. Clinton's presence gave the Turkish authorities an opportunity to complain about the report, and it gave Mrs. Clinton a chance to reiterate the concerns raised in it.

The U.S.-Turkey relationship too will survive U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide.

Turkey's leaders are trying to persuade President Obama to not to acknowledge the events of 1915-17 as a genocide this April 24. They are not confident that they will succeed. Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on March 8 he still saw "a risk" of U.S. affirmation of the genocide. "Mr. Obama made the promise five times in a row," he noted.

We wish Mr. Obama success in his trip to Turkey. Meanwhile, with his given his willingness to address difficult issues head on instead of sidestepping them, Mr. Obama can and should speak clearly and unequivocally about the Armenian Genocide.