Talking Turkey

Human Race: Mr. Erdogan comes to Washington and leaves with what he calls a major victory | Priya Abraham

With 100,000 troops amassed on Turkey's southern border, poised to invade Iraq, it was no wonder that the Washington visit of Prime Minister Recep Tayipp Erdogan Nov. 5 drew so much interest.

Erdogan met with President Bush at the White House and arrived some 20 minutes late for a packed speech at the National Press Club. The U.S.-Turkish relationship, he said, is suffering a "serious series of tests." He labeled two crises straining the allies: the "so-called Armenian genocide," and the activities of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, a group based in northern Iraq that often launches terrorist attacks inside Turkey.

Weeks after the diplomatic slight, Erdogan reiterated that the Armenian issue could "deeply damage" the U.S.-Turkish alliance. In 1915, as the Ottoman Empire crumbled during World War I, the Turks massacred an estimated 1.5 million minority Armenians, who are mostly Christian. Last month, the U.S. House tried to pass a since-stalled resolution declaring the massacre a genocide, alarming the Turks and the Bush administration, which is loath to offend a friendly Muslim nation in the Middle East. A peeved and defensive Erdogan said the Armenian deportation, which resulted in mass deaths, came at a turbulent time.