“Not for the first time, Armenians sense a moment of vindication in their struggle for the acknowledgment of the tragedy that befell their forebears during the First World War. Turkey is angry. And America's administration is straining to limit the damage,” The Economist weekly reports.

"The latest Turkish-American rift over the Armenian question-after a congressional committee voted on March 4th to recognize the killings of 1915 as genocide-looks wider than some previous ones. It coincides with a general scratchiness between America and its ally. Turkey is reluctant to slap sanctions on Iran. Anti-Americanism is running high among Turks. Some suspect that Barack Obama retains his view (expressed as a senator in 2008) that “the Armenian genocide is not an allegation, but rather a widely documented fact,” the source reads.

“Still, the chances are that after a deep sulk, Turkey will send its ambassador back to Washington, and the administration will persuade legislators to avoid a vote in the full House, for fear of wrecking an important relationship-and worsening the fading prospects for reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. A tired diplomatic ritual will play out once again,” the weekly says.

“Can any actor in this sorry drama do anything to improve the script? One day a Turkish leader will be statesman enough to see that national dignity is better served by acknowledging the sins committed on Anatolian soil than by suppressing debate and punishing truth-tellers. Such a leader could decouple relations with Armenia from Ottoman history. In any case, their argument today is more about the aftermath of the war over Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s than over 1915,” the source emphasizes.

“If Turkey were a totalitarian state, there would be no case for Armenian self-restraint. But precisely because Turkey is an (albeit imperfect) democracy, the emphasis should be on giving Turks the best possible chance to face up to their own past. Instead of telling Turks what to think, Armenians should urge the authorities to promote inquiry within Turkey, starting with an end to measures such as article 301,” (a controversial article of the Turkish Panel Code making it illegal to insult Turkey-NEWS.am’s note), the weekly concludes.