Jeffrey: Protocols to Have ‘Profound Effect’ on Turkey-US Relations

The fate of the Turkey-Armenia protocols will have the most “profound effect” on the Turkey-US relations, said former US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey in a 2010 State Department cable released by WikiLeaks.

The fate of the Turkey-Armenia protocols will have the most “profound effect” on the Turkey-US relations, said former US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey in a 2010 State Department cable released by WikiLeaks.
In discussing US expectations vis-à-vis Turkey’s follow through on the UN or US-imposed sanctions on Iran, Jeffrey, in a January 2010 cable said: “This [the Iran issue] will have a profound effect on [US-Turkey] relations second only to the fate of the Armenian protocols over the next year.”
After Turkey refused to sign the dangerous Turkey-Armenia Protocols, the US was quick to say that the proverbial ball was now in Turkey’s court. That statement first received much attention, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Armenia and made the statement at a press conference there.
State Department circles and officials have publicly, and privately, reiterated that point, firmly believing that the ill-conceived protocols were—and are—the only way to address the centuries-old Turkish-Armenian question, including the Armenian Genocide.
Jeffrey also says that “Major challenges with us [the US] in the coming months include the direction of Turkish-Israeli relations, the fate of the Protocols with Armenia, and the Turkish posture vis-à-vis Iran.”
In a very frank tone, Jeffrey delineates the obstacles and challenges facing US-Turkey relations as the AKP party fortifies its positions and lever within the Turkish government and society.
Jeffrey acknowledges that Turkey is pursuing “Neo-Ottoman” policy and cites a speech delivered by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Sarajevo at the end of 2009, in which Davutoglu claimed that the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East were better off under Ottoman rule.
“We will re-establish this (Ottoman) Balkan,” Jeffrey quotes Davutoglu from his Sarajevo speech.