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AAA: State Department Affirms Existing Policy on Armenian Genocide

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  • AAA: State Department Affirms Existing Policy on Armenian Genocide

    Armenian Assembly of America
    122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
    Washington, DC 20001
    Phone: 202-393-3434
    Fax: 202-638-4904
    Email: [email protected]
    Web: www.armenianassembly.org

    PRESS RELEASE
    April 5, 2004
    CONTACT: David Zenian
    E-mail: [email protected]

    ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY: STATE DEPARTMENT EXISTING POLICY ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

    Washington, DC -- The U.S. State Department, responding to objections raised
    by the Armenian Assembly this week, said language used in references to the
    Armenian Genocide in its most recent human rights report on Turkey did not
    mark a change in long-standing U.S. government policy.

    The clarification came days after Assembly Board of Directors Chairman
    Anthony Barsamian wrote to Secretary of State Colin Powell calling for an
    urgent re-examination of the incorrect references and requesting that the
    U.S. distance itself from the Turkish policy of denial.

    Barsamian said the Assembly was "greatly troubled" by the use of the words
    "alleged" and "allegation" in contexts which seemed to be "unequivocally
    influenced by Turkish assuage clouding State Department reporting."

    The Department's response was issued by Armenia Desk Officer Eugenia
    Sidereas to the Armenian Assembly Monday.

    "Language used in the Department's (Turkey) country report for human rights
    practices referring to the events of 1915 is in no way intended to mark a
    change in longstanding existing U.S. Government policy. The report referred
    solely to the phrasing used to describe these events by the Turkish
    government and individuals. We regret any misunderstanding. President Bush's
    statement on Armenian Remembrance Day articulate U.S. views regarding the
    decimation of the Armenian community in Ottoman Turkey and underscore our
    hope that Armenia and Turkey will come to a common understanding and
    reconciliation," she told the Assembly.

    Under Section 2(a) and again under Section 5 of the Department's report
    entitled "Turkey: Country reports on Human Rights Practices for the Year
    2003," the authors of the report spoke of "the alleged genocide of Armenians
    under the Ottoman Empire" and "allegations that the Ottomans committed
    genocide against Armenians."

    Both sections cited gross violations of human rights in Turkey, including a
    demand by the Turkish Ministry of Education that fifth and seventh-grade
    students, including Armenians, prepare a one-page essay - in the words of
    the State Department report - "arguing that allegations that the Ottomans
    committed genocide against the Armenians are 'baseless.' "

    The report was released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
    and submitted by the Department to Congress by the department of State on
    February 25, 2004.

    Barsamian said while as far back as 1982 the State Department had clarified
    similar language by adding a footnote to explain that it was "not intended
    as statements of policy of the United States ... Nor did they represent any
    change in U.S. policy," similar errors appeared in the Department's most
    recent human rights report on Turkey.

    "In fact," Barsamian said in his letter to Powell, "prior to 1982, the
    Department of State squarely acknowledged the Armenian Genocide and
    recommended that Turkey acknowledge the crimes against humanity."

    The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide
    organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
    issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

    ###

    NR#2004-035
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