The Armenian National Committee of America, or ANCA, the largest and most radical Armenian-American group, has said that it is not planning to attend a meeting next month between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and major Armenian-American organizations to discuss the Turkey-Armenia reconciliation process.

The ANCA, in a weekend statement, said its move is in protest of a State Department stance to decline to invite many influential Armenian-American groups, which oppose the normalization talks between Ankara and Yerevan.

Invited to attend the Feb. 9 meeting with Clinton were the Armenian Assembly of America, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Western), the Knights of Vartan, and the ANCA.

The ANCA accused the State Department of not inviting to the meeting the Eastern U.S. and Western U.S. Prelacies of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Apostolic Exarchate for Armenian Catholics, Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, Armenian Missionary Association of America, Armenian Relief Society, Armenian Bar Association, Armenian International Women’s Association, Armenian Rights Council of America, Armenian Youth Federation, Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural & Education Association, Homenetmen Armenian General Athletic Union, Tekeyan Cultural Association, United Armenian Fund, and the U.S.-Armenia Public Affairs Committee.

"I am writing to share our serious concern that your initial round of invitations to Armenian-American organizations to meet with you this coming Feb. 9 does not represent our traditional community leadership nor does it reflect the widely understood Armenian-American opposition to the Turkey-Armenia protocols," ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian said in a letter sent to Clinton last week, according to the ANCA statement.

"As presently configured, the meeting you have proposed will not serve the vital and worthwhile aim of healthy discourse, and would, at this sensitive moment, in fact be counter-productive. The current arrangement, which, by all appearances, intentionally excludes so many of our traditional community and church leaders on the basis of their views and values, would set an undemocratic and highly negative precedent," Hachikian said. "We would not be able to meaningfully participate under these narrow and exclusionary terms," he said.

Strong US support

The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers signed a set of agreements on Oct. 10 under which Ankara and Yerevan should set up normal diplomatic relations and reopen their land border. U.S. President Barack Obama's administration strongly supports this process.

But there are signs that the reconciliation process could face an uphill battle. The Turkey-Armenia accord needs to be ratified by the parliaments of the two neighbors before implementation, and there is no indication of when both nations may bring the deal to their parliaments.

The problem that lies at the root of the problem is the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Turkey's close friend and ally. Turkey first wants to see progress toward the solution of the Karabakh conflict before opening its border with Armenia. And the Armenians are hinting no sign of this.

Nagorno-Karabakh, a mostly Armenian-populated enclave inside Azerbaijan and parts of Azerbaijan proper, has been under Armenian occupation since a war in the early 1990s. As a result of this war, Turkey has refused to set up normal diplomatic relations with Yerevan and has kept the land border with Armenia closed since 1993.

The ANCA is staunchly opposing the Ankara-Yerevan process and seeking to obtain formal U.S. recognition of the World War I-era killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as "genocide."

The Armenian Assembly of America, the second-largest Armenian-American group, which will attend the meeting with Clinton, says it in principle supports the Turkey-Armenia process. But at the same time, it also pursues U.S. genocide recognition.

Turkey has strongly warned that any formal U.S. “genocide recognition,” either by the administration or in Congress, would lead to a major and lasting deterioration of bilateral ties.