The move shows the foreign policy priorities of the US while warning Turkey to keep its promises on rapprochement with Armenia, observers say.“The approval of the Armenian resolution in the US Foreign Affairs Committee by 23 votes against 22, has a dimension that goes beyond Turkish–Armenian relations: What is being tested is actually the priorities of US foreign policy,” thinks Yeni Şafak’s Fehmi Koru who says Turkish-US relations were enjoying a spring mood before this incident. In his view, this vote has shown that the balances in foreign policy during the one-year administration of Barack Obama have influenced the balance of domestic policy in the US, however have difficulty in getting a determining result. “If Turkey had imposed pressure on the US administration, there could have been an unprecedented result and the resolution could have been removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Turkey will need that strength in other issues. Ankara should wait for Obama, who labeled Turkey-US relations a ‘model partnership,’ to correct the current situation,” Koru suggests.
According to Hürriyet’s Cüneyt Ülsever the decision of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs to approve the resolution that recognizes Armenian killings in 1915 as “genocide” is a political decision, and US President Obama has made a contribution to this decision. “The decision of the US committee is a yellow card for Turkey’s foreign policy,” he says.
Recalling the signing of protocols with Armenia to normalize relations and open borders at a ceremony in Zurich last year, which he said was done in line with a directive from Obama, Ülsever says there was no single reference in these protocols to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem between Armenia and Azerbaijan, an ethnic and regional ally of Turkey. “At that time, Turkey was being kind to the US and the EU as well as Armenia. It was saving the day. But everyone knew that those protocols could not be forwarded to the Turkish Parliament in their current form because everyone knew that a decision that excludes Azerbaijan would not even get support from the ruling Justice and Development Party [AK Party],” explains Ülsever. In light of this, he interprets the approval of the Armenian resolution as an attempt by the US to show Turkey a yellow card for the promises it has failed to keep. “The US is warning Turkey [to keep its promises],” suggests Ülsever.
Star’s Aziz Üstel thinks the approval of the Armenian resolution by a US House committee should not be taken too seriously as this resolution is unlikely go to the floor of the House. Although he believes this resolution will be thrown out, Üstel says it will deal a heavy blow to Turkish-Armenian relations. “Which American authority or ambassador will be able to tell Turkey to open its borders with Armenia after this move?” he asks.
