InternationalObama: Reckoning with the past can help us seize a better future
Published: Friday April 10, 2009
Ankara, Turkey - In a speech to the Turkish parliament in Ankara on April 6, President Barack Obama addressed Turkey's reckoning with the Armenian Genocide and its relations with Armenia. The following is an excerpt from the president's remarks.
Another issue that confronts all democracies as they move to the future is how we deal with the past. The United States is still working through some of our own darker periods in our history. Facing the Washington Monument that I spoke of is a memorial of Abraham Lincoln, the man who freed those who were enslaved even after Washington led our Revolution. Our country still struggles with the legacies of slavery and segregation, the past treatment of Native Americans.
Human endeavor is by its nature imperfect. History is often tragic, but unresolved, it can be a heavy weight. Each country must work through its past. And reckoning with the past can help us seize a better future. I know there's strong views in this chamber about the terrible events of 1915. And while there's been a good deal of commentary about my views, it's really about how the Turkish and Armenian people deal with the past. And the best way forward for the Turkish and Armenian people is a process that works through the past in a way that is honest, open and constructive.
We've already seen historic and courageous steps taken by Turkish and Armenian leaders. These contacts hold out the promise of a new day. An open border would return the Turkish and Armenian people to a peaceful and prosperous coexistence that would serve both of your nations. So I want you to know that the United States strongly supports the full normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia. It is a cause worth working towards.
It speaks to Turkey's leadership that you are poised to be the only country in the region to have normal and peaceful relations with all the South Caucasus nations. And to advance that peace, you can play a constructive role in helping to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has continued for far too long.
Obama: I have not changed views
During a joint press availability on April 6 at Cankaya Palace in Ankara, Turkey, President Barack Obama and his Turkish counterpart and host Abdullah Gül took two questions. The first question was posed by Christi Parsons. Mr. Obama's exchange with Ms. Parsons is reproduced below. Mr. Gül also responded to the question, offering a full-throated denial of the Armenian Genocide.
President Obama: Christi Parsons, Chicago Tribune - hometown - hometown newspaper.
Christi Parsons: Thank you, Mr. President. As a U.S. senator you stood with the Armenian-American community in calling for Turkey's acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide and you also supported the passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution. You said, as president you would recognize the Genocide. And my question for you is, have you changed your view, and did you ask President Gül to recognize the Genocide by name?
President Obama: Well, my views are on the record and I have not changed views. What I have been very encouraged by is news that under President Gül's leadership, you are seeing a series of negotiations, a process, in place between Armenia and Turkey to resolve a whole host of longstanding issues, including this one.
I want to be as encouraging as possible around those negotiations which are moving forward and could bear fruit very quickly very soon. And so as a consequence, what I want to do is not focus on my views right now but focus on the views of the Turkish and the Armenian people. If they can move forward and deal with a difficult and tragic history, then I think the entire world should encourage them.
And so what I told the president was I want to be as constructive as possible in moving these issues forward quickly. And my sense is, is that they are moving quickly. I don't want to, as the president of the United States, preempt any possible arrangements or announcements that might be made in the near future. I just want to say that we are going to be a partner in working through these issues in such a way that the most important parties, the Turks and the Armenians, are finally coming to terms in a constructive way.
Christi Parsons: So if I understand you correctly, your view hasn't changed, but you'll put in abeyance the issue of whether to use that word in the future?
President Obama: What I'd like to do is to encourage President Gül to move forward with what have been some very fruitful negotiations. And I'm not interested in the United States in any way tilting these negotiations one way or another while they are having useful discussions.
Christi Parsons: Thank you.
