Turkey expects sort of apology from Obama due to the adoption of a resolution by the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs recognizing events in 1915 under Ottoman rule as genocide of Armenians, writes Turkey-based Today’s Zaman.

Obama recognized the 1915 killings of Armenians as genocide during his election campaign. But he refrained from using the word “genocide” during his April 24 speech last year to give a chance to the normalization of ties between Turkey and Armenia, as the two countries signed protocols last October in Zurich. But the Protocols have not been put into force, as Turkey set a precondition for the protocols to be adopted in its parliament: that a process should start toward a solution on Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani enclave populated mainly by ethnic Armenians, the article reads.

The source concludes that the failure of the protocols has played into the hands of the strong Armenian lobby within the US, culminating with the adoption on March 4 of a resolution by the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs recognizing the 1915 events as genocide. But the fact that protocols have not been put into force has also weakened President Obama’s hand in safeguarding Turkey against the Armenian lobby. If it comes to the full House floor, it will be on April 24, the day when Armenians commemorate the genocide. And if it is comes to a full House vote, the House is expected to endorse the resolution.

Turkey, in the meantime, will lose considerable US support in its fight against terrorism. Turkish Foreign Ministry officials confirmed recently that massive operations launched against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Europe have come as a result of a US diplomatic initiative that has been under way for several years. US support of Turkey in its fight against the PKK is mainly because Washington needs a reliable ally in this problematic region. A more stable Turkey will better serve US interests in the region while stability will be highly beneficial for Turkey itself.

The source reminds the readers of a “letter to be written by Obama to his Turkish counterpart saying something along the lines that the Washington administration is sorry about the adoption of a genocide resolution in the committee. US government support of Turkey against the genocide allegations is crucial.”

According to the source, the letter will also be a guarantee that President Barack Obama will not utter the word “genocide” in his annual statement on April 24.

Obama’s use of the word “genocide” would be more damaging than the adoption of a resolution by the House. Referring to a US diplomat, it writes that “in such a case Turkish-US relations would suffer a serious blow.”

Obama has a difficult choice and is caught in a trap. On the one hand, he cannot lose NATO as Turkey’s ally. On the other hand, he cannot resist the strong Armenian lobby as the November congressional elections are getting close, writes Today’s Zaman.

The Turkish government should have worked harder to get the protocols with Armenia adopted in Parliament to increase its leverage against the Armenian Diaspora, the source concludes.

T.P.