How Biden ended Turkey’s genocide blackmail – columnist

The Biden administration has put an end to Turkey’s bluff over the recognition of the Armenian genocide, which asserted that Ankara would move to close U.S. bases and quickly begin cooperation with Russia, Iran and China, Jerusalem Post columnist Seth Frantzman wrote on Sunday.

Pointing out that Turkey’s attempt to hold countries hostage regarding the Armenian genocide has been effective for many years, Frantzman said that Ankara must now consider whether Washington’s proclamation will lead it to work with authoritarian regimes or opt for “reconciliation” with countries it has attacked over the last few years.

On Saturday, Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to formally recognise the killings of 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Empire during WWI as genocide, in a move that threatens to further complicate relations with NATO ally Turkey, who has long vehemently denied the claim.

Those who opposed the genocide recognition argued that Turkey would drift away from NATO and work with Russia and China – all steps that Ankara has already taken, according to the analyst.

Under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ankara has been accused of increasingly drifting out of the transatlantic alliance and severing ties with the West.

In recent years, Turkey has increased cooperation with Russia and China, purchasing S-400 missile systems from the former despite objections from NATO and the United States, and deepening economic ties with the latter.

“Turkey’s policy was to pretend it was above history, above ever being held to account or even critiqued. Many US diplomats went along with this; for years they appeared almost more pro-Turkey than Turkey’s own diplomats,’’ Frantzman wrote. 

Moreover, “There is no evidence that denying the genocide helped keep Ankara more liberal, tolerant, democratic and open minded and more close to the West,’’ the analyst said.