Commentary: Turkey’s HR106 backlash weakens its own international causes
Essay by Jirair Harutunian
Former Board of Directors Chairman of the Armenian Assembly of America
In unprecedented outcry over the adoption of Resolution 106 by the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Ankara threatens American military efforts in Iraq. A new parliamentary motion allows large scale incursions against Kurdish insurgents in Northern Iraq. At the same time, Ankara threatens to deny the American military logistical access through the Incirlik air base in Turkey.
Turkey’s angry response to the committee’s adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution was headline news for days, followed by a weekend of watching some lawmakers distance themselves from the significant document.
It now appears that the U.S. Administration’s opposition, coupled with an expensive lobbying campaign by Turkey, is likely to dissuade lawmaker’s from bringing the resolution to the floor of the House of Representatives. Their efforts have intensified as an increasing number of opposition opinions are being expressed in the U.S. which may result in the resolution not being brought to the floor for a vote.
Whatever the final outcome of the genocide resolution in Congress, Turkey’s outrage and threats do little to advance its aim of joining the European Union. Nor does its action sit well with Americans who do not take kindly to threats and political blackmail.
It is interesting that even the most vociferous opponents of the resolution avoid denying the truth that the horrific actions of the Ottomans in 1915 constituted Genocide. They only argue that Congress is not the place to make that judgment, especially since this is a sensitive issue with an important ally. But even they are uncomfortable supporting a genocide denial campaign over a non-binding congressional resolution. Turkey remains suspect as a reliable ally because Americans have not forgotten Turkey’s last minute refusal to allow U.S. troops to enter Iraq through Turkey during the invasion of that country in March 2003. Confidence in Turkey was shaken then, and is undoubtedly still in doubt in Washington, despite all the platitudes being expressed today by the White House and the Pentagon.
One extra measure of annoyance toward Turkey has been Ankara’s surprising accusations that Israel has betrayed Turkey’s friendship by not reigning in American-Jewish groups from endorsing the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Not long ago, open controversy about the subject erupted in Massachusetts within the leadership of the Anti-Defamation League whose President first demeaned the reality of the Armenian Genocide, and then retreated, stating that the horrors that befell the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was tantamount to Genocide. Even his opposition to the passage of Resolution 106 was rebuffed by Turkey.
All the fuss and threats by Turkey are clearly the last gasps of a lost cause. Whether or not the resolution is ultimately enacted by Congress, the reality of the Armenian Genocide has been confirmed by world public opinion.
In an address to the Second Convention of European Armenian Organizations on October 15, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian recalled Turkey’s lost opportunities to mitigate its strained relations with Armenia. He said in part, “when independence came to all the Soviet republics, including Armenia, Turkey ignored a huge opportunity for a new start. Turkey refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia, and two years later closed the border hoping that Armenia’s vulnerability and fragile statehood would force it to renounce its past and with it, any possible claims for compensation.”
Today in Turkey, the son of murdered Armenian publisher of the Agos newspaper Hrant Dink, has been convicted under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code for reprinting the interview of his father who asserted that it was Genocide that befell the Armenians of Eastern Anatolia. Turkey has thus moved from its claim of being victim of the Armenian Lobby to its more historic role of bullying Armenians within its borders.
Turkey has isolated itself from the standards of the Western world within which it seeks to invest its future. Its angry refusal to face the facts of its Ottoman past has frustrated its friends and is fueling the prejudices of its own militant nationalists whose extremism risks further criticism and condemnation. Worse still, if Turkey fulfills its threats to begin a military offensive into Northern Iraq – as it appears imminent since fighting broke out this week – it will confront Iraqi, American, and Kurdish opposition. Moreover, if it impedes military logistics support for American troops in Iraq alternative air routes will be found, but Washington, will be unforgiving for being compelled to do so. And, ironically, if both threats are unfulfilled or are temporary, it will expose Turkish weakness and aggravate the fragile internal political environment that exists in the country.
Turkey’s self inflicted dilemma will unfortunately affect Armenia as well. Armenia will continue to be denied the most direct access to Western markets. However, the continued blockade of a non-belligerent neighbor will inevitably impede Ankara’s quest for European Union membership. In the end, Turkey will have to accommodate its Western ambitions with the standards of the European Union. Ankara continues to stifle free speech through its infamous Article 301 law that punishes those who violate what the state says defames “Turkishness” by discussing the Armenian Genocide. It maintains its blockade of Armenia, and continues to refuse EU member Cyprus access to Turkish ports. All these acts threaten Ankara’s entry into the European Union.
The present legislation in Congress recognizing the Armenian Genocide has placed a sharp focus on all these issues. Whether Resolution 106 is enacted remains unknown. Either way, when the current hysteria has quieted, Turkey will be revealed as the loser.
http://armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=2567&CID=2547&IID=&lng=eng
He is got a point...the tide might be is changing...
Please...please...invade Iraq...
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