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Once Again, Obama Breaks Promise to Call Armenian Genocide 'Genocide

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  • Once Again, Obama Breaks Promise to Call Armenian Genocide 'Genocide

    ABC News
    April 24 2010


    Once Again, President Obama Breaks Promise to Call Armenian Genocide 'Genocide'
    April 24, 2010 8:07 PM

    President Obama today again broke his promise to use the word
    `genocide' when describing the systematic slaughter of 1.5 million
    Armenians at the beginning of the last century.

    `I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and
    my view of that history has not changed,' the president said in a
    statement today commemorating the genocide but not using the g-word.
    `It is in all of our interest to see the achievement a full, frank and
    just acknowledgment of the facts.'

    In actuality, the only consistencies are that as a candidate Mr. Obama
    incessantly labeled the genocide as such and heralded himself for
    doing so, and since becoming president -- and suddenly having to deal
    with the a key ally, Turkey, which disputes that term -- he has
    refused to do so.

    This was the case in April 2009 when he visited Turkey, and one year
    ago today for the same commemoration.

    Last month the Obama administration even asked the chairman of the
    House Foreign Affairs Committee to cancel a vote scheduled on a bill
    recognizing the Armenian genocide. After speaking to Turkish President
    Abdullah Gül, the president had Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
    reach out to committee chairman Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif.

    `Secretary Clinton called Chairman Berman yesterday and in that
    conversation the secretary indicated that further Congressional action
    could impede progress on normalization of relations,' National
    Security Staff spokesman Mike Hammer said.

    The conversation took place after the president spoke with President
    Gül and `expressed appreciation' for his and Turkish Prime Minister
    Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's `efforts on normalization of relations between
    Turkey and Armenia.' The president also `pressed for rapid
    ratification of the protocols,' Hammer said, referring to efforts at
    normalization between Armenia and Turkey.

    As a senator, and then as a presidential candidate, Barack Obama often
    talked about how bold he was to call the slaughter of an estimated 1.5
    million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire just what it was:
    a genocide.

    `America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian
    Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides,' he said. `I intend
    to be that President.'

    In a January 2008 letter to the Armenian Reporter, Mr. Obama said he
    shared `with Armenian Americans -- so many of whom are descended from
    genocide survivors -- a principled commitment to commemorating and
    ending genocide. That starts with acknowledging the tragic instances
    of genocide in world history.'

    In 2006, Mr. Obama noted, `I criticized the secretary of state
    [Condoleezza Rice] for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John
    Evans, after he properly used the term `genocide' to describe Turkey's
    slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. I shared with
    Secretary Rice my firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is
    not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather
    a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of
    historical evidence.'

    Asserted Mr. Obama, back then: `The facts are undeniable. An official
    policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an
    untenable policy.'

    Mr. Obama also stated unequivocally that `as President I will
    recognize the Armenian Genocide.'

    His position on the matter was so strong, the Armenian National
    Committee of America had its own Obama File on Armenian Genocide
    Recognition, which included a Youtube clip of the President on the
    campaign trial saying, `There was a genocide that did take place
    against the Armenian people. It is one of these situations where we
    have seen a constant denial on the part of the Turkish government.'

    -jpt

    http://blogs.abcnews.com/polit icalpunch/2010/04/once-again-president-obama-break s-promise-to-call-armenian-genocide-genocide.html
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