Obama Arrives in Turkey

UPDATE 4-6: Watch Obama address Turkey's Parliament here.
Obama just landed in Turkey and is scheduled to address parliament. The speech will be live at cnn.com tomorrow 8:45 eastern time. 

Obama's backing Turkey's European Union bid, as are many U.S. lawmakers. France is against Turkey being part of the European Union. Some background on that here.

Hurriyet: After giving an address in parliament on Monday afternoon, Obama will fly to Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, where he will attend a meeting Tuesday of the Alliance of Civilizations, a forum sponsored by Turkey and Spain to promote understanding between the Western and Islamic worlds.

Obama will also tour Haghia Sofia, which once was a Byzantine church, and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul’s historical Sultanahmet district.

The visit, Obama’s first to a Muslim country, is seen as symbolic in terms of unity and strategy, as the new administration tries to improve the U.S.’ tarnished image abroad. One of the main reasons for Obama’s surprisingly early visit is to win back the hearts and minds of ordinary citizens of Turkey - one of the countries where public opinion about America has reached record low levels.

Some protests:

Hours before his arrival, several dozen people were protesting against Obama’s visit in Ankara and Istanbul.

In a main square in Istanbul, members of a leftist group shouted “Obama, go home” and waved Turkish flags. Police did not intervene.

Protester Abdullah Turker said he did not want Washington to use Turkey as a corridor for the American withdrawal from Iraq. He said he feared the U.S. would encourage separatism by urging Turkey to make concessions to its Kurdish citizens.

Meanwhile dozens of members of an Islamic group gathered in Ankara, protesting the U.S.’s position regarding Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the first Muslim elected to congress, talks about the significance of Obama's trip to Turkey:

Protests:

Will Obama officially recognize Armenian genocide?

WSJ: When President Barack Obama visits Turkey tomorrow, millions of Americans hope that he will fulfill a campaign promise by preparing the Turkish government for official American recognition of the Armenian genocide of 1915-23.

No American president since World War II has come into office with a stronger understanding of the facts about this terrible chapter in history. And no president has a greater track record of speaking plainly about it: As a presidential candidate, Mr. Obama argued forcefully throughout the campaign that "America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides."

His words reflected a powerful personal commitment. In 2006, for example, our ambassador to Turkey, John Evans, was recalled for using the term "genocide" to describe the events of 1915-23. In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on July 28 of that year, then Sen. Obama described the official U.S. position on the events of 1915-23 -- which is not to describe them as a genocide -- as "untenable." He reminded Ms. Rice that "the occurrence of the Armenian genocide in 1915 is not an 'allegation,' a 'personal opinion,' or a 'point of view.' Supported by overwhelming evidence, it is a widely documented fact."

"Words matter," as Mr. Obama said on Feb. 16, 2008. And genocide has a particular power, encompassing within a single word a crime of unsurpassed barbarity -- the effort to destroy an entire people. When Holocaust survivor Rafael Lemkin coined the term during World War II, he drew on the Ottoman campaign to annihilate the Armenians, in which over 1.5 million perished, as a paradigmatic example. It is no wonder that the International Association of Genocide Scholars and all credible historians (outside Turkey) have agreed that this was the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey and Armenia easing conflict:

LAT: Turkey and Armenia are likely to announce a deal soon aimed at easing their conflict, diplomats said Friday in a development that would sweeten President Obama's visit to Turkey next week.

The two countries are expected this month to announce an agreement to resume official contacts and reopen borders that have been closed since 1993, said the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the subject.
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But a deal between Armenia and Turkey could spell disappointment for Armenian Americans who want Obama to fulfill his campaign pledge to declare that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks beginning in 1915 was a genocide.

With substantial progress toward rapprochement, Obama is likely to postpone a genocide declaration in a presidential proclamation April 24, the annual remembrance day. The White House is expected to argue that under the circumstances, the use of the term "genocide" in the proclamation would anger Turkey and threaten the talks.