The most important event of the past week by the US House of Representatives was the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.  The main political goal of American Armenians for decades was in part realized.  The Armenian Genocide by the House of Representatives was recognized without a big lobbying campaign and without much propaganda efforts.  One had the impression that a domestic event was being considered and that the congressmen just “took it” and recognized it.

Ever since then, the Armenian media and social networks have been replete with “immoral world” and “immoral politics” remarks.  The point is that in big politics, there is no moral and humanitarian values, there are only interests, and the recognition of the Armenian Genocide was based on America’s at the moment interest.

That this act of Congress is in the national interest of the United States is clearly stated in one of the pre-ambulatory clauses of the accepted resolution, “…the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–441) establishes that atrocities prevention represents a United States national interest….”

The fact that countries pursue policies based on their own national interest should not come as a surprise to anyone, because that is the Alpha and Omega of international relations.  Wish us the same and try to understand what has changed in the US and in international politics in general.

What will the adopted resolution change, and what interests and challenges do we face?

It is evident that in the Greater Middle East (one of the focal points of which is the South Caucasus) fundamental changes are taking place. The political map (in many cases artificially) drawn after World War I is called to question. There are also changes in the geopolitical positions, and in particular in the importance of Turkey.  If Turkey in the past was the stronghold in restraining the Soviet Union for the West and, in particular, for NATO, today in view of the fact that the ideological empire is no more, Turkey has lost its long-standing role.

Turkey's national dream of joining the EU (since 1963) has finally come true.  After reaching the “national dream,” Turkey has a new aspiration, which is to expand to the east towards the “Turkic world.” This is a serious challenge for the Eastern powers, first and foremost for Iran, Russia and China. To deter the imperialist and volatile aspirations of the Turks, the best tool is to blame Turkey for the Genocide in the same manner as when Germany was blamed for the Holocaust.  And most importantly, on this issue, the conventional East and the conventional West are in agreement.  It was no accident that the day of the adoption of this resolution, the Russian Defense Minister declared a Russian military base in Gyumri doubling the potential and replenishing the base with new weapons.  It seemed that Russia and the US were operating in synchrony and not only on this issue.

It is noteworthy that there are a number of remarkable statements in the resolution. First, there is a reference to US Ambassador to Turkey Morgenthau’s ‘‘campaign of race extermination,’’ followed by a comparison to Hitler and a statement on how the first genocide was an example for him.  Subsequently, the resolution addresses a current call for action that is to “encourage education and public understanding of the facts of the Armenian Genocide, including the United States role in the humanitarian relief effort, and the relevance of the Armenian Genocide to modern-day crimes against humanity.”

That is, there are already obvious parallels between the Armenian Genocide and the current policy of genocide of the Kurds. Thus, the first conclusion without doubt is that the resolution is a blow to the policy and ideology pursued by the leadership of Turkey.  In particular, the idea of ​​creating a “Turkic world,” “neo-Ottomanism,” ethnic cleansing, are a threat to humanity and the United States which as a matter of national interest, is opposed to it.

As we can see, the key concept is “national interest” and the key in building relationships between countries is to look for intersections of national interests.