The Armenian Issue and the American Elections Discussed at the Diplomat School

The Diplomat School 4 Program has completed its second week. Speakers at the program were former Member of Parliament and President of STRATİM (Strategic Communication Center) Suat KINIKLIOĞLU, Yeditepe University faculty member Assist. Prof. Dr. Deniz TANSİ, Okan University Head of the Department of International Relations Prof. Dr. Mustafa KİBAROĞLU and President of the Center for Eurasian Studies, Retired Ambassador Ömer Engin LÜTEM . The program addressed the topics "Turkish-American Relations after the US Presidential Election", "The Impact of the US Elections on the Israeli-Palestinian Issue", "The Missile Shield Project and Türkiye's Position", "Türkiye-Armenia Relations" and "The Armenian Issue in the International Arena".

Suat Kınıklıoğlu said: "For many years, the principle of 'peace at home, peace in the world' was adopted as the basis of Turkish foreign policy, with the aim of establishing good relations with neighbors. A foreign policy that took fewer risks and was aimed at protecting the Republic was pursued," and stated that this changed with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990-91. Kınıklıoğlu began his remarks with the reasons for Obama's re-election. Noting that there is very high income inequality in America and referring to Obama's policy on the middle classes, Kınıklıoğlu said that well-off Americans once again said "Obama" for their fellow citizens in difficulty. With the model partnership with America, more weight was given to commercial, economic and cultural relations beyond the security axis, and trade volume increased. Kınıklıoğlu added that Obama's term was a period in which Bush's mistakes were corrected and his sins cleaned up.

Deniz Tansi said: "The demand that Israel be recognized as a Jewish state, the Palestinian refugees' desire to return and the much-debated status of Jerusalem (which, according to some, is a religious matter that cannot even be discussed) have brought out the problems between the two states." On Obama's approach to Palestine, Tansi stated: "By encouraging the King of Jordan, Obama helped create the image that if Israel withdrew to the 1967 borders, the Arab States would recognize Israel. The Netanyahu government, in turn, stated that Israel would control Palestine's airspace and land, and that Palestine would have no army. This was called the '1.5-state solution' and was a disappointment for Obama. As a result, problems arose between Obama and the Netanyahu government." She emphasized that, with the morale and enthusiasm of being elected a second time, Obama would want to launch a new Israeli-Palestinian peace process. She shared with us that in the Israeli elections, a conservative government formed by Likud and Lieberman's "Israel Is Our Home" party had come to power and would not look favorably on change, which raised the question of whether Obama would be tougher on this issue. "In the Oslo process, this point was reached through secret talks; there was a three-way compromise: Israel, the West Bank of Palestine and Hamas." Finally, she concluded her speech by saying that Obama is a president on credit, having received the Nobel Prize as soon as he was elected, that he must live up to this prize, and that this would happen if he solved the Israeli-Palestinian problem.

Mustafa Kibaroğlu began his remarks with the debates on the location of the Missile Shield: "The word location has two meanings: the first is 'territory', the second is political. Essentially, the Missile Shield was a measure taken by the USA against a possible threat from Soviet Russia with the end of the Cold War." Kibaroğlu continued his speech by evaluating the Missile Shield issue from Türkiye's perspective: "This issue should not be seen as something Türkiye became involved in in November 2012; by virtue of its location, Türkiye was already involved in this issue, and the developing events have a background; one should not look at it superficially. There are many countries in our region that possess ballistic missiles. Knowing this, the USA proposed cooperation to Türkiye. Türkiye said that this cooperation should be within the NATO framework. Türkiye's participation in the Arrow 2 Project was on the table, but nothing came of it."

Ömer Engin  Lütem made the following observations on Türkiye-Armenia Relations and the Armenian Issue: "One of the biggest problems of the Armenians is that their state was destroyed as a result of the religious pressure of the Byzantines. But Armenians continue to exist as a people." Lütem continued: "After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Türkiye was one of the first states to recognize independent Armenia. To establish good relations with Armenians, Türkiye provided wheat and electricity aid during the 1988 earthquake and allowed other countries' aid to pass through. Diplomatic relations with Armenia could not be established. The reasons are the recognition of territorial integrity, the genocide allegations and the Armenia-Azerbaijan war over the Karabakh problem. Türkiye closed its border with Armenia in 1993, and it is still closed." Lütem concluded: "Armenians started a terrorist movement thirteen years ago. They murdered thirty-one of our diplomats. Later, others besides Turks also began to die. Upon this, attempts at resistance also emerged. Armenian terrorism caused the Armenian issue to be recognized by the world. Books and articles were written on this subject, and genocide exhibitions were opened. Armenian propaganda on the genocide began. Some of these propaganda topics: Morgenthau's book, which claimed that Talat Pasha gave an order to 'kill the Armenians'. It later emerged that this order was based on a fake telegram."