Ankara relieved but not satisfied after Obama’s April 24 message

The widely anticipated move was a relief to Ankara, which has repeatedly warned that endorsement of the genocide claims by the US administration would irreparably harm ties, but the way Obama described the historic event also rattled Turkish policy-makers. Obama, who repeatedly promised to call the 1915 events “genocide” when he was a candidate for president, also disappointed Armenians, who have been pressing him to keep his campaign promise.

The US president says his personal view -- referring to earlier statements that the killings of Armenians in eastern Anatolia did constitute genocide -- has not changed since he became president but he wants to focus on a process of normalization between Turkey and Armenia instead of on history.

Similar to his April 24 message last year, Obama used the Armenian term “Meds Yeghern,” which means “great tragedy,” to refer to the World War I-era events. Turkey denies that the events amount to genocide and says many Turks were also killed by Armenian gangs revolting against the Ottoman Empire in an attempt to create an independent Armenian state in eastern Anatolia in collaboration with the Russian army.

“On this solemn day of remembrance, we pause to recall that ninety-five years ago one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century began. In that dark moment of history, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire,” Obama said in his message on April 24, the day when Armenians claim a systematic genocide campaign began. “Today is a day to reflect upon and draw lessons from these terrible events. I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed. It is in all of our interest to see the achievement a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts. The Meds Yeghern is a devastating chapter in the history of the Armenian people, and we must keep its memory alive in honor of those who were murdered and so that we do not repeat the grave mistakes of the past.”

Presidents of the US issue statements each year on April 24, but Obama’s statement this year was different from the previous ones because he mentioned the Turks who saved Armenians in 1915.

“I salute the Turks who saved Armenians in 1915 and am encouraged by the dialogue among Turks and Armenians, and within Turkey itself, regarding this painful history. Together, the Turkish and Armenian people will be stronger as they acknowledge their common history and recognize their common humanity,” Obama stated.

In Ankara, reactions were mixed. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appeared to welcome the statement, saying on Saturday that “Turkey’s sensitivities have been observed” and that Obama’s refusal to call the 1915 events “genocide” was due to the diplomatic efforts of Turkey.

But the Foreign Ministry, in a written statement, called Obama’s statement an “incorrect and one-sided political perception.”

“We deeply regret this statement which reflects an incorrect and one-sided political perception. The toughest enemy of the historical facts is subjective memory records. No nation has the right to impose its memory records on another nation,” the Foreign Ministry statement indicated.

The statement further added that “third counties have neither the right nor the authority to judge the history of Turkish-Armenian relations with political motives.”

The opposition parties, which object to the government’s efforts to restore relations with Armenia, were also unhappy with the statement. Onur Öymen, the deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said the use of the term “Meds Yeghern” was no different from using the word “genocide,” while Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli called Obama’s terminology a “play of words” that meant his accusations against the Turkish nation remained in place. Bahçeli also accused Erdoğan of sharing the same position as the Armenian diaspora by welcoming Obama’s statement and reiterated his call for the withdrawal of two protocols signed by Turkey and Armenia on normalizing bilateral relations.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu criticized Obama’s statement and said that it was “unacceptable.”

“If we are going to share grief for humanitarian reasons, then we would expect respect for our own grief as well,” Davutoğlu said.

The Turkish Coalition of America also said Obama’s statement did not address “the equally tragic loss of Muslim lives in this turbulent period of Ottoman history.”

“Where does the ethnic cleansing of Ottoman Turks from the Balkans, Eastern Turkey and the Caucasus -- with 5 million lost and 5.5 million refugees -- come on the president’s list of ‘worst atrocities of the 20th century’?” Turkish Coalition of America President G. Lincoln McCurdy said.

Armenians in the US, on the other hand, were disappointed that the statement did not include the word genocide. “Today we join with Armenians in the United States and around the world in voicing our sharp disappointment with the president’s failure to properly condemn and commemorate the Armenian Genocide,” Armenian National Committee of America Chairman Ken Hachikian said.

Obama is closely watching rapprochement efforts between Turkey and Armenia, which are full of difficulties.

Ankara and Yerevan signed protocols for reconciliation in October envisaging the reopening of the borders and the establishment of diplomatic relations. But the protocols need to be approved by the parliaments of both countries.

Just a few days before April 24, Armenia’s ruling coalition on April 22 said it had decided to freeze the ratification of the protocols. The Armenian government claimed that the Turkish side had refused to fulfill the requirement of ratifying the accords without preconditions in a reasonable time.

The Turkish Parliament has held up ratification of the deal as Turkey presses for a settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan over a region in Azerbaijan that has been under Armenian control since a war in the 1990s. But Turkish officials, including Foreign Minister Davutoğlu and President Abdullah Gül, have voiced their expectations that the freeze in the normalization process between Ankara and Yerevan will serve as an opportunity for both sides to thoroughly consider the rest of the process with a mutual understanding of the difficulties on each side.