Pope Francis’ sermon at St. Peter's Basilica, where he spoke of the 1915 events that took the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ottoman Armenians, was expected to be the precursor for Western governments. The speculation (and the Turkish government's concern) is focused on the United States. April 24 is the centenary and Francis seemed to allow for many to follow. But every year on the anniversary of the alleged Armenian genocide, US President Barack Obama has refrained from uttering “the G-word.” He has preferred the Armenian words “Metz Yeghern” (Great Calamity) that were used by Armenians before the UN Genocide Convention of 1948.
The European Parliament may have to come to the rescue of Obama, seemingly squeezed between a moral obligation and the imperatives of foreign policy driven by national interest and the commitments of an international coalition leader in a volatile region of the Middle East. After all, Turkey is a NATO ally and despite its divergence on crucial issues with Washington, it is much too valuable an asset to alienate.