I don't think it is to do much with an Armenian lobby or massive voting block, LEN. The Armenian Genocide has become something of a moral benchmark, a measurement by which politicians can show their moral compass to their electorate. It is this moral yardstick, more than any obsessing over Anatolian history per se, that makes it an issue. It's somewhat of a free pass.

And it pisses of the Turks. In public opinion, semi-authoritarian, semi-militaristic hotheads, so you look cool irritating and defying them. Plus, Turks won't fly airplanes into buildings nor blame and hate the West for everything so they are not noble people 'who are simply misunderstood' and are therefore not entitled to a relativistic approach to their history.

Which is not to say that I disagree. I do believe in an Armenian Genocide, and I do believe Turkey could do with a more relaxed and less uptight atmosphere about history and nationhood etc, but I won't go over all that again here.