It is not so much what Barack Obama says, as how he says it. The US president on Monday gave his last set-piece address of a frenetic and momentous inaugural overseas tour at the Turkish parliament in Ankara.

Reaching out: President Barack Obama drew parallels between the US and Turkey when he spoke to the parliament in Ankara

The event was loaded with opportunities to trip up – not least over the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman soldiers. Mr Obama has repeatedly backed a US congressional resolution des-cribing the killings as genocide. Without using the word “genocide” Mr Obama gently pressed for progress in talks with neighbouring Armenia, with which Ankara has yet to establish relations.