Keep the Turkish- Armenian light shining
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 13, 2009 00:00
For nearly a generation the annual rites of spring in Washington have included the high-stakes lobbying match between Turkey and the Armenian diaspora. This is the annual congressional resolution proposing recognition of 1915 incidents as "genocide."
The drill has always been much the same. A sum of $1 million or so is allocated to a lobbyist with good ties to the Democratic Party. A similar check is written to another lobbyist with analogous ties to the Republican Party.
Depending on year-to-year circumstances, a hefty dose of additional lobbying power is usually then sought from the Israel lobby. Together, these forces develop a standard set of what might be called "negative" arguments. Defeat the resolution or Turkey will NOT allow expanded use of an airfield for operations in Iraq. Defeat the resolution or Turkey will NOT do this or NOT do that. The "NOTs" varied from year to year but were consistent in always being extraneous to Turkey’s relationship to Armenia.
As this April approaches again, circumstances have changed. No secret here. The new administration of Barack Obama is dominated by politicians who have promised to carry the Armenian diaspora’s water. For reasons similarly well known, this April the Israel lobby is in no mood to offer Turkey so much as a stale bagel, let alone strategic cover.
We would argue that the 20-year drill described above was cynical, stopgap and one in which Turkey was manipulated. But it worked. Now it won’t. Many predict, in the threat-based language of the past, that a crisis looms.
Maybe not. For while much has changed in Washington, much has changed in Yerevan and Ankara as well. Between the past and coming spring, reciprocal presidential visits have altered the landscape. A famous football match is etched in the memory of Turks and Armenians. Scarcely a day passes when another civil society exchange or initiative between these two countries is announced. Just this week, Armenia and Azerbaijan took important steps to resolve their own frozen conflict that feeds the standoff between Turkey and Armenia.
Turks ranging from President Abdullah Gül to academics to businessmen to students have taken countless courageous steps since last spring to right relations between two peoples who share so much common history, culture and tradition. This is the "positive" argument that needs to be made. It requires no new lobbying expenditure. It requires no call on political capital of extraneous lobbies. Turkey and Armenia have together bravely lit the candle of peace between Turks and Armenians and now seek to protect this flame. The new Obama administration should understand that it has no business extinguishing this fragile ray of light in a world haunted by so much darkness.
Depending on year-to-year circumstances, a hefty dose of additional lobbying power is usually then sought from the Israel lobby. Together, these forces develop a standard set of what might be called "negative" arguments. Defeat the resolution or Turkey will NOT allow expanded use of an airfield for operations in Iraq. Defeat the resolution or Turkey will NOT do this or NOT do that. The "NOTs" varied from year to year but were consistent in always being extraneous to Turkey’s relationship to Armenia.
As this April approaches again, circumstances have changed. No secret here. The new administration of Barack Obama is dominated by politicians who have promised to carry the Armenian diaspora’s water. For reasons similarly well known, this April the Israel lobby is in no mood to offer Turkey so much as a stale bagel, let alone strategic cover.
We would argue that the 20-year drill described above was cynical, stopgap and one in which Turkey was manipulated. But it worked. Now it won’t. Many predict, in the threat-based language of the past, that a crisis looms.
Maybe not. For while much has changed in Washington, much has changed in Yerevan and Ankara as well. Between the past and coming spring, reciprocal presidential visits have altered the landscape. A famous football match is etched in the memory of Turks and Armenians. Scarcely a day passes when another civil society exchange or initiative between these two countries is announced. Just this week, Armenia and Azerbaijan took important steps to resolve their own frozen conflict that feeds the standoff between Turkey and Armenia.
Turks ranging from President Abdullah Gül to academics to businessmen to students have taken countless courageous steps since last spring to right relations between two peoples who share so much common history, culture and tradition. This is the "positive" argument that needs to be made. It requires no new lobbying expenditure. It requires no call on political capital of extraneous lobbies. Turkey and Armenia have together bravely lit the candle of peace between Turks and Armenians and now seek to protect this flame. The new Obama administration should understand that it has no business extinguishing this fragile ray of light in a world haunted by so much darkness.