Overall, Obama's first overseas trip for bilateral talks to a foreign country that is also a Muslim-majority nation aimed at repairing ties with Turkey that were strained under the eight-year-long administration of George W. Bush. Washington-Ankara ties were put under pressure by the Turkish parliament's 2003 decision to block US-led coalition forces from using Turkey as a launch pad into neighboring Iraq.
In the following words from Obama one can read both his appeal to Turkey to go ahead with reforms that were laid down by Atatürk and the implication that no nation can be perfect during the early years of its establishment:
"This morning I had the privilege of visiting the tomb of the great founder of your republic. I was deeply impressed by this beautiful memorial to a man who did so much to shape the course of history. But it is also clear that the greatest monument to Ataturk's life is not something that can be cast in stone and marble. His greatest legacy is Turkey's strong and secular democracy, and that is the work that this assembly carries on today," he said during his address to the Turkish Parliament on April 6.
Both during his speech at Parliament as well as during his meetings with Turkish leaders, Obama strongly emphasized the importance of secular democracy in Turkey. This can also be read as a robust message given by the US that it does not support any more military coups in Turkey. Turkey's politically powerful armed forces have intervened five times through different types of coups and indirect interventions in the Turkish political system.
Obama's stress on secular democracy in this Muslim-dominated nation was also intended to assure Turkey that the US does not see this NATO member as a moderate Islamic role model but a role model with its secular democracy.
Obama also reached out to the Muslim world from Turkey as part of the US's new efforts when he said during his speech in Parliament that the United States is not at war with Islam and never will be. "In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject," he said. But the US president also stressed the US's resolve in continuing to fight those such as al-Qaeda who take up arms.
However, it is widely expected that before the beginning of Ramadan in the summer Obama will visit a Muslim nation -- possibly Indonesia, Egypt or Pakistan -- to make his major speech to the Muslim world. His avowal from Turkey that the US is not at war with Islam was a preliminary step to this end.
Although Obama confirmed that he would stick to his election campaign pledge that he recognizes the events of 1915 against the Armenians under the Ottoman Turks as genocide, he did not want his country to hinder an Armenian-Turkish rapprochement. His remarks have been interpreted as a sign that Obama will not use the term "genocide" in a traditional message on April 24, which Armenians claim marks the beginning of the genocide campaign against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Turkey, which denies that the 1915 events constituted genocide, earlier signaled that serious damage would be inflicted on Turkish-US relations if the US Congress passes a resolution to recognize the events as genocide and if Obama mentions genocide in his speech.
It is now widely anticipated that Turkey will take serious steps to normalize ties with its eastern neighbor Armenia most probably after April 24, provided that Obama does not use the word genocide in his message.
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