Ankara’s message is loud and clear (Is Washington’s?)

Published: Thursday May 14, 2009

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This week Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated himself clearly, in case anyone had missed his message: Turkey will not open the border with Armenia unless Armenians make fundamental concessions to Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Or to quote him directly, "There is a cause and effect relation here. Occupation of Karabakh is the cause here and closing of the border is the effect. It is impossible for us to open the border unless that occupation ends," he said in Baku this week, with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev at his side.

Just to be clear: Mr. Erdogan is stating the position Turkey has held for 16 years. There's no movement, no change, no evolution, no maturing.

The stated position of the U.S. State Department is that "normalization" of relations between Turkey and Armenia "should take place without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe."

But Mr. Erdogan's repeated statements on this issue remove any doubt about Turkey's intentions. Turkey should be interested in normalizing relations with Armenia, but it clearly is not.

Does the State Department get that message?

Turkey's primary concerns regarding Armenia are to take the issue of the Armenian Genocide off the international agenda and to pressure Armenia to make concessions to Azerbaijan. The Obama administration should not be taken in by dishonest suggestions that "tangible progress and mutual understanding" with Armenia have been achieved.

The burden is on the Obama administration to secure Turkey's support for the U.S. position on that country's relations with Armenia.