Armenia in the Limelight of World Politics

After Pope Francis’ pronouncement, politicians who were shunning the use of the term Genocide in the official chambers of power realized they could call a spade a spade.

Despite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s threats, neither the German government nor the Pope backed down. The Pope courageously stood by his position, reiterating once again his statement and enshrining it also in the document signed by the heads of the two churches at the conclusion of the pontifical visit last weekend.

Pope Francis’ visit could have had a broader impact on an international level had the news media not played down the visit.

When the Pope visits any corner of the world, no matter how remote or how close, the cameras of major media outlets are there to capture his every move. But his visit to Armenia did not enjoy that level of coverage in the first place because of the political impact the visit could generate, with the genocide issue on the radar. George Orwell is dead; his Big Brother is alive and well, but not in the now defunct Soviet Union, but here in the West, at the headquarters of major news outlets.

The most that the major news networks did was to focus on the controversies that were generated by the Pontiff’s remarks.

The Pope once again placed the burning issue of the Armenian Genocide on the world forum, he launched a peace initiative by promising on his homeward trip that he would tell in Azerbaijan whatever he witnessed in Armenia. His release of the dove at the Shrine of Khor Virab, next to Catholicos Karekin II near the Turkish border, toward Mount Ararat, was more than a historic gesture. He has been credited with the rapprochement between two bitter enemies, namely the US and Cuba, which brought down the last vestige of the Cold War.

The major networks ignored completely the momentous events of the Pope’s visit, only to capitalize on the reactions of official Turkey.

The Associated Press, Reuters and other news outlets highlighted Turkey’s reaction, which came through the Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli, who characterized the Pope’s statement as “greatly unfortunate” and went on, adding that “the goal is to squeeze Turkey in the corner. … It is possible to see all the reflections and traces of Crusader mentality in the actions of the Papacy and the Pope.”

However, the Vatican did not mince words when responding to the Turkish accusation. According to the Vatican Radio, the focus of Pope Francis’ is to reach the “spirit of dialogue.” On behalf of the Vatican, Father Federico Lombardi said, “The Pope is on no crusade. He is not trying to organize wars or build walls, he wants to build bridges. … He has no words against the Turkish people.”

Erdogan’s bullying had intimidated many world leaders — including political leaders in the US — to avoid using the world genocide. Pope Francis’ courage broke the ice. Many leaders are finding that it is something doable. Even outgoing British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had been, ironically, crusading for Turkey’s admission to the European Union, finally realized that under Erdogan, Turkey, was veering toward despotism. Incidentally, Brexit was caused, among several other factors, because of the influx of Turks into Europe through dropping the visa requirement and also eventual membership of Turkey in the EU, which scared the British voters.

The Pope is back in the Vatican. His white dove is still flying, hopefully, to come back with an olive branch.

What remains behind is Armenian ingenuity to use occasions from the sublime to the most mundane — Pope Francis and the Kardashians — to place Armenia back in the international political limelight.