US President Barack Obama’s invitation sent to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to visit Washington DC in mid-April is considered by some politicians in Armenia to be another “trap” and another attempt for Obama to avoid using the word genocide in his speech on April 24 -- the Armenian Genocide commemoration day. (Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also invited).

On March 12, on the initiative of the American side, a telephone conversation took place between US State Secretary Hillary Clinton and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, during which Clinton passed Obama’s invitation to Sargsyan to participate in the Global Nuclear Security Summit, Washington DC, on April 12-13.

According to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnkatsutyun, the invitation is “a trap which will help Obama avoid the word ‘genocide.’” “The problem is that Sargsyan cannot decline the invitation, and the only thing he can do is to clearly state that Turkey has ruined the process, that Turkey has imposed preconditions, etc., that is to say, to show an unambiguous position,” Giro Manoyan, Director of the International Secretariat of ARF Bureau in Yerevan, told ArmeniaNow.

Two documents on the Armenian Genocide were narrowly adopted in March – in the United States and Sweden. On March 4, by a vote of 23-22 the US House Foreign Affairs Committee approved Resolution 252 calling for the affirmation of the Armenian Genocide (it still needs to reach the full House floor for voting). A week later, on March 11, the Swedish Parliament recognized the Armenian Genocide by a vote of 131-130 (again with a one-vote margin).

Turkey’s reaction was stormy in both cases – recalling their ambassadors, threats of suspending economic cooperation, street protests in Turkey, etc. In the context of such events, according to specialist in Turkish studies Artak Shakaryan, Obama’s step is directed at “easing the tension.” “However, this is just another staging that aims at making an impression that there is progress in the Armenian-Turkish normalization, which will become a reason for Obama to avoid the G-word,’” Shakaryan told ArmeniaNow.

The expert foresees that at the meeting “an agreement will be achieved stating that both sides must make a statement saying that they (Armenia and Turkey) will be honor the protocols and that they will continue the normalization process.”