Armenia–Turkey relations

As a long-time diplomatic correspondent, I have closely followed Turkey?s diplomatic struggle against world-wide efforts for the recognition of the Armenian genocide. An overall analysis would openly put that Turkey failed in its efforts to take an efficient stand against very well-orchestrated campaigns of the Armenian diaspora and the state of Armenia. 

The European Parliament is set to discuss and vote on a resolution April 15 on the claims of genocide about the mass killings of Armenians at the hands of Ottomans a century ago, turning up the heat on the debates before a ceremony in Armenia on April 24.  

Turkish-Armenian relations are back under the spotlight ahead of the centenary commemorations of 1915 on April 24. The date will be especially strained this year, after Turkey opted to rearrange the international Gallipoli campaign remembrance service to compete with genocide commemorations in Yerevan on the same day.

'Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide' by Thomas de Waal
(Oxford University Press, 312 pages, $29.95)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has challenged the Armenian diaspora to come up with ?documents? to resolve the intractable political issue surrounding the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians 100 years ago.

Turkish Foreign Ministry on March 14 slammed the human rights report adopted by the European Parliament, saying that the report lacked historical reality and legal basis.

The European Parliament has called on EU member states to recognize the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide.

The EP adopted the Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2013 and the EU policy on the matter on March 12.

U.S. congressmen working on a resolution to recognize the 1915 killings of Ottoman Armenians as genocide have missed the deadline to submit the motion, as preparations by Armenian lobbies in Washington for the 100th anniversary are reportedly proceeding more slowly than intended.

Turkish-U.S. relations have survived many tests on the Armenian issue before.

Ankara will remain committed to protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia aiming to normalize bilateral relations, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç has said, after Yerevan recently decided to withdraw the 2008 protocols from the Armenian Parliament.