How the Armenian Genocide could affect Ukraine's position in the eyes of the West?

Ever since the Euromaidan and tensions increased between Ukraine and Russia, Kyiv has sought to become a prominent player within Europe, by trying to join NATO and EU. But while France and Germany have become more reluctant to accept Ukraine into the EU, due to the unwanted Brexit that saw the United Kingdom left the group, joining NATO maybe even more problematic because NATO also has members who share veto powers. One of them is Turkey, as Kyiv has been seeking to cultivate a friendlier alliance.

Now, with U.S. President Joe Biden going to address the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, this can become a problem for Kyiv.

Pro-Turkish and anti-Armenian views

Ukraine has been at the spotlight when the Euromaidan when Ukrainians joined the protest demanding the pro-Russian President, Viktor Yanukovych, to leave power. The Maidan lasted for a year before it successfully toppled the President, forcing him to flee to Russia. The first death in the Maidan was a Ukrainian national of Armenian origin, Serhiy Nigoyan. One of Ukraine's first Ministers post-Maidan was another Armenian, Arsen Avakov.

Serhiy Nigoyan, the first protester to die in Euromaidan.

This shows that a lot of Armenians were supportive of Ukraine, as they distrusted Russia.

Unfortunately, when the Euromaidan succeeded, Ukraine persuaded a string of policies that greatly alienated the Armenian population. It became rabidly pro-Turkish and supportive of Ankara's behaviour, if not to say even more than siding with the United States, which has thrown weight behind Ukraine for the Maidan. Kyiv backed Azerbaijan and Turkey toward Armenia and has embraced Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and though some Ukrainian activists objected Erdogan's regime, no Ukrainians ever bothered about Erdogan's handling of domestic and foreign relations are mostly only for Turkish leader's pursuit. However, the stain of Ukraine when it comes to the issue is far stretched - it was the first country to overturn the recognition of Armenian Genocide, which was done in the town of Izyum in 2011 due to a massive campaign by the Turkish and Azerbaijani diaspora groups. This is made even more serious when Volodymyr Zelensky, on his trip to Turkey in April 2021, congratulated the Turkish government for its "peace-making efforts", which is far from the truth. Many Ukrainians had also voiced support for Azerbaijan to commit atrocities against Armenians in Karabakh - an internationally recognised part of Azerbaijan but have an Armenian ethnic majority. Much worse, the Armenian Genocide's memorial is completely shunned in Ukraine following the Maidan, which is something unacceptable.

The support from Ukraine to Turkey is understandable, as Turkey is the only NATO nation to have a strong backing for Ukrainian government, to the fact that Armenia found only Russia, Georgia and Iran to rely upon. But Ankara's dictating diplomacy is far from just countering Russia - Ankara is trying to antagonise even Ukraine's Western allies.

Erdogan's unpredictable nature and his mismanagement led him to face more enemies than friends. After fighting Russia in Syria, Libya and Karabakh, Erdogan is trying to wreck over with the rest of NATO by fighting against Greece. Erdogan is also seen waving a string of anti-EU propaganda, accusing the European Union of being anti-Turkish and steering up pro-Erdogan support among the more conservative Turkish population in the Union. It has also greatly offended Israel, a country where many of its population are either Russian and Ukrainian Jews, by referring to Israel as an apartheid entity and blasting Israel for all the problems in the Middle East. Moreover, Erdogan is engaging in a cold war with the United States, for not suspending the purchase of S-400 from Russia, Fethullah Gulen's movement and the Turkish invasion of Kurdish enclaves in Syria and Iraq - with the Kurds being viewed as one of America's best partners in the anti-ISIS coalition.

Again, this is totally not reported in Ukrainian media, or if it does, it often favours to Turkish state's viewpoints. It has led Ukraine to pay a heavy price on trying to keep siding with Erdogan. In 2018, delegations of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel lobbied the United States, then led by President Donald Trump, to stop supporting Ukraine and striking for a peace deal with Russia in retaliation to Kyiv's pro-Turkish stance in the Middle East. Trump responded in 2019 by questioning Ukrainian government's commitment to the West as well as raising conspiracies about Hunter Biden, son of Joe, on his activities in Ukraine. Zelensky did not answer Trump's request and Trump downsised the support for Ukraine, damaged the country greatly and hampered Kyiv's attempt to combat Russia-backed separatists - causing the former film star to look for a separate peace with the rebels.

But it was Ukraine's endorsement of Turkey and Azerbaijan toward Armenia in Karabakh, as well as Ukrainian weapons provided to Turkey to wage wars on the Kurds in Iraq and Syria that delivered the last blow. Even Georgia and Moldova, which have problems with Russia-backed separatists, did not support inflaming tensions; whilst Ankara had accused the United States and the rest of NATO of lethal and political support to Armenia, which was denied by Washington. Western allies, enthusiast to Ukraine at first, began to feel wary about including Ukraine into NATO and European Union - fearing Kyiv would become Ankara's mouthpiece of distortion.

Ukraine's big task

Now, Joe Biden is likely to become the first American President to ever speak out to the Armenian Genocide, more than 100 years since the genocide ended. But Ukraine has missed out on the point, they are taking too much attention to Russia, without questioning the toxic Turkish regime that even America no longer likes. It can be a serious danger.

Ukraine still has time to correct where they stand. The Western neighbour Poland offered an example of this. Poland used to be partitioned by Russia, Austria and Germany - during that time, only the Ottoman Empire (predecessor of Turkey), as well as Denmark, Spain and Persia, rejected the partitions. Ottoman Empire even demonstrated by providing Poles shelter as well as training bases of resistance against the three occupants. Poland was indebted to Turkey for its support to the country's long path to restoring freedom.

Yet, Poland wasn't blindfolded by Turkey's misinformation game. In 2005, Poland, now a member of EU and NATO, passed a resolution recognising the Armenian Genocide at the Sejm, before officially recognised by the Polish Senate and President Aleksander Kwasniewski recommended his pride in acknowledging the truth.

However, it is hard to see if Ukraine really wants to follow the step, as the EU and NATO have made a fundamental clearance that joining either require respect of history, democracy, no war situation and human rights. Ukraine has democracy, but human rights remain ablaze with the arrest of Serhiy Sternenko and increases of attacks on independent media groups, Donetsk and Luhansk unclear, and respect for history is yet to be seen. While Turkey has no intention to allow Ukraine to solve it peacefully because Erdogan found his soul connected to Putin's authoritarianism, which he models Turkey after, and the Turkish tyrant has also purged freedom of speech and democracy in the country violently, as well as challenging the rest of Europe, America and even Muslim world with a megalomaniac belief of Turkish superiority. Combining with how Ukraine and Ukrainians treated Armenia and Armenians, the first Christian people in the world that the West feels strong affinity with, it is very uncertain.

The United States Congress had passed the resolution in 2019, even when America needed Turkey in the past for security reasons. Joe Biden is likely to be impatient because it is one of his promise he has sought to bring in when he won the election. But Ukraine is keeping itself backwards from their democratisation process - and it'll only hurt Kyiv in the long term if the country continues to dance in the tone of Erdogan.