No result is a result too, especially in Armenian-Turkish relations

PanARMENIAN.Net - But first, let us decide the place Armenia can take in the region, given the complete collapse of the Georgian president as the leader of the South Caucasus (failure of the Bush policy) and the high-flying and inadequate nature of the president of Azerbaijan. The United States was reluctant to invite Ilham Aliyev, and Mikhail Saakashvili was simply ignored. It would be naïve to think that Serzh Sargsyan was invited for no special reason: most apparently the Obama administration has come to the conclusion that with the help of Armenia it can kill two birds with one stone - consolidate its position in the Caucasus and slightly neutralize Russia. Apparently the motives are Armenian-Turkish relations. Even though the meeting Sargsyan-Erdogan gave zero results, the fact of its occurrence is already good, as in Turkey it is the prime minister and not the president that has the last word.

As for Armenia, the President, as always, was accurate in his wording: “Armenia is ready to normalize relations with neighboring countries, but she is not ready for any preconditions. Our position in the Armenian-Turkish process has been and remains unchanged: Ankara cannot speak to the Diaspora in the language of preconditions, we will not allow it. Armenia is not going to question the Armenian Genocide or believe that Turkey can play any positive role in the Karabakh conflict settlement,” the President said.

But Erdogan, as always, stayed true to himself: failing to railroad the Karabakh issue, which he had promised to “brother” Aliyev, Erdogan reverted to the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and began to build up pressure on it. Now the attempts of the Turkish government to silence the events of 1915 are treated strictly and sometimes quizzically by the world. Soon Turkey will just be laughed at, because the state that denies its own history deserves only ridicule. Moreover, Turkey’s attempts to take the issue of the Armenian Genocide onto historical level are doomed to failure. What is more, Turkish Prime Minister is sure that President Obama will not use the term “genocide” in his traditional address to the Armenian American community on April 24.

“It’s my guess, because so far no American leader has pronounced this word, and I believe that President Obama will not do it either,” Erdogan said. Let us remind the Turkish Premier that on April 22, 1981 on the occasion of the Remembrance Day of the Holocaust victims, 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan in his statement (N4838) said: “The lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten – like the genocide of the Armenians before it and the genocide of the Cambodians which followd it, and like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoples.” Ronald Reagan was much bolder and stronger than the presidents following him, and under his rule, as far as we remember, no one dared to blackmail or threaten the United States. And if we recall the history, on January 20, 1981 a few minutes after newly-elected President Reagan’s inauguration the hostages that had been held captive for 444 days in the American Embassy in Tehran were returned to U.S. officials.

But this is the story so much disliked in Turkey. To our regret, Georgia too has recently been suffering from a similar “dislike”. In no other way can be explained in one of the streets of Tbilisi, on the wall at the intersection of Ingorokva and Tchaikovsky the appearance of a sign reading: “Here heroically died true Turkish patriot, statesman and military commander Ahmed Cemal Paşa (1872-1922). Dedicated to his immortal memory that will never be effaced in the hearts of friendly Georgian and Turkish peoples.” Here’s a fine kettle of fish! “Butcher” Cemal Paşa, guilty of slaughtering one and a half million of his fellow Armenians, is a hero for the Georgian people... And though the sign was removed, its appearance is quite symbolic. Georgia has not yet recognized the Armenian Genocide and most likely she will not until she receives a command from Ankara. Or from somewhere else, such as from the U.S…

Let us note in conclusion that by April 24 hardly anything will be changed in the attitude of Turkey towards “history”, but the world community will definitely change its position for the worse in relation to Ankara.