Armenian Genocide + America's relationsip with Turkey

Nie Trink Wasser

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Apr 15, 2002
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http://www.diamandagalas.com/press/LAWeekly1101.htm

“The U.S. doesn’t want to recognize the Armenian genocide because it’s going to bed with Turkey. Now is not the time to discuss an Armenian genocide, and now will never be the time to discuss these things ‘because we have our national security to think of and that of Armenia,’ said the Clinton administration one year ago. Selling billions of dollars of attack helicopters to Turkey to safeguard its national security and that of Israel — these things get in the way of settling an old score of minor players, so to speak.

“Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres calls the Armenian Genocide Resolution ‘meaningless’ and says to the Turkish Daily News [April 10, 2001], ‘We reject attempts to create a similarity between the Holocaust and the Armenian allegations. Nothing similar to the Holocaust occurred. It is a tragedy what the Armenians went through, but not a genocide.’ Peres does this while asking Turkey to support Israel against the Palestinians, and going into business with them in their purchase and possible co-production of the Arrow anti-tactical ballistic missile interceptor — developed by the U.S. and Israel —and while discussing the sale of Turkish water to Israel. Turkey threatens not to renew the mandate for U.S. forces using the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey to patrol the no-fly zone in northern Iraq — if there is any mention of ‘an Armenian genocide.’

“We have a lesser but nonetheless painful situation with our leaders in Greece, who are so crazy about peace with the Turks that they turned in [Kurdish separatist rebel leader] Abdullah Ocalan as a gesture of friendship. It is never the time to give any kind of importance to people of no importance.”
 
I don't think what happened with the Armenians in Turkey over 80 years ago should be a factor in deciding policy towards Turkey. Nearly every nation has done some terrible things in its past and we cannot hold it against them forever. The US is now allied (at least to some degree) with Germany, Japan, and Russia even though they have done similarly horrible things but more recently and on a larger scale. The US itself was forcibly relocating its own native population with all the deaths that involved not many years prior. These things are in the past and best left in the past as they can't be changed now and those who did them are long since dead (certainly in the case of Turkey).

That being said, I think the issue of the Kurds, which is happening now and not decades ago, may well be something to consider in assessing any relationship with Turkey. I wouldn't say it should be the only determining factor, but it should be considered.
 

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