Turkish diplomat warns U.S. President against Armenian Genocide recognition

PanARMENIAN.Net - Faruk Logoglu, former Ambassador of Turkey to the United States sent a letter to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, Hurriyet daily reports.



The letter reads:



"I urge you, Mr. President, to pay attention to the following issues to ensure that our partnership remains strong, constructive and mutually beneficial. I realize that on all these points the Turkish side must take the appropriate reciprocating steps.



1. Our relationship is a special one. It is the only formal alliance of the U.S. with a Muslim country in NATO. Common values, shared ideals and compatible national interests form its solid foundation. They are both democracies.



2. Today our relations are stable and relatively warm. Recovery in the aftermath of the March 1, 2003, vote in the Turkish Parliament was not easy. The halting of the Armenian resolutions in Congress last year and the belated cooperation against PKK terrorists in Iraq provided breathing space. You now have the opportunity to put our ties on a progressive track.



6. Surveys consistently indicate a very unfavorable opinion of the U.S. in Turkey. This underlines the need to implement a broad public diplomacy strategy to win the hearts of the Turkish public. That should be one of the tasks of your Administration.



7. The efforts of the Armenian and other anti-Turkish lobbies to take our relationship hostage should be rendered harmless. You need to convince the Turkish public that you are being fair and not giving in to the demands of special interest groups, especially when those demands are at least questionable.



8. Two concrete issues regarding Turkey that will be brought to your attention in the early days of your Presidency will be the Armenian resolutions in the Congress and American help in the fight against the PKK that is based in Iraq. They literally constitute the red buttons in the control deck of our relations. Any resolution in Congress supporting Armenian claims would do substantial, if not irreparable, damage to your standing in Turkey and upset the entire chemistry of our relationship. Moreover, it would not help resolve the problem and reverse the positive trends now in the making between Turkey and Armenia. Instead, you should encourage the recent positive trends between the two neighboring states in the direction of dialogue and conciliation."