WASHINGTON (A.W.)—A senior official in the Obama Administration said that the president will not use the term “genocide” in his Armenian Commemoration Day statement on April 24, according to a story by Christi Parsons published in the LA Times and Chicago Tribune today.
The official said Obama will call for an examination of the past “so that it can be better understood.”
“He [Obama] has his views, and his views are known,” the official said, noting that Obama’s goal is to see Turkey “reckon with the events of 1915.”
The Armenian Weekly will provide updates on this developing story throughout the day.
To my fellow Armenians who are disappointed in the President’s failure to make good on his campaign promise by recognizing the Genocide as such, I ask you… why are you so surprised? You have put too much faith in a man who has repeatedly proven that he cannot be taken at his word. He has barely been in office 100 days, and has already broken many of his promises. He promised to end earmarks, and then signed a budget that contained over 3,000 of them. Did you really think he cares about you? If so, why? What is it based on? A promise? The fact that there is irrefutable truth that the Genocide took place, and that 1.5M of our ancestors were snuffed out? Means nothing to him. He used you – you served your purpose, you helped get him elected. Now he has bigger and better things to contend with. Just another empty suit who makes promises he has no intention of keeping. I am waiting for a President who won’t even make this promise to us during the campaign, who will actually do the right thing anyway simply because it is the right thing. That will be who I vote for. The President now joins a long line of his predecessors who also reneged on their promises to us. I am not surprised in the least. I did not vote for this man because I saw him for the fraud that he is. So I am sorry that you are all so disappointed. Please remember this snub in the future, and in the meantime keep on fighting the good fight and keep applying the pressure. That is the best way to honor our ancestors to keep their memory alive and to ensure that the world will know that they did not die in vain, that we are still here, that we are still the Armenian people. When the time comes, all of these lying politicians will be held to account.
I have to say, Turks and Armenians has to let go of this unknown teritories. I am sorry but it is a big shamble to blame a nation whom had a war against their own ancestors.. you (armenians) can not and should not ask the Turks for what the Ottomans done. If Turekey went into Armenia and started making Armenian teritory theirs , what would the Armenians do…. Probably they would defend……YES… The Word is DEFEND…
All the Armenian 3rd generation, is it worth that all your people will suffer now, for a conflict which was hundreds of years ago….
Just telling you think about the living more than respecting the past, because living is the one feeling the pain.
Every country had a war , do you agree, ? France, Italy, Greece, Egypt you name it all these great nations expanded and tried to keep the borders intact… sooooooooooo if you protect your borders is a problem than why do you invade Azerbaijan?????? In the region Armenia is the only country to have their bor5ders closed more than 1 country…
With this attitude, you will never achieve anything, even the Armenian Patriots try, because it is a road without any means for living,…
Again , the real question is why cant you let it go, When the Ottoman Empire was splitting ,,,,,as every Master nation, they tried to hold on to their territories.. I do not believe it was against the Armenians or Greeks, or Egyptians, Or Serbs, or Albanians, or etccccccc….. they just wanted to hold onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn…
anyway do not make these people in the states to make you believe , that they are doing this for you or The Armenians… They are doing this so they can get the Money , the american dream, and with your support you are giving them what they want.. Never forget about your past, but make sure noone tricks you that you go back in time, in our time…
c’mon
Dear Micheal Elliot, why this much anger for a President that has been in power almost 100 days…. What did Armenian Presidents have ever done for Amenians in Armenia… Not the ones who are pretending to protect armenia but making it go worse by worse every day… I believe Micheal you are one of them who fires up a situation when there is none…. You should be ashamed for talking bad about a President newly elected, and if you are That Armenian why dont you try to help The Mainland Armenia… The GDP is the lowest in the region, so instead of words maybe, actionnnn , huh? and supplying money food education,, our region doesnt need any hatred preachers like you. Just get a job and start blaming yourself , do not blame anyone else…
Micheal as an Armenian, when were you in the mainland, it is easy to talk when you are there.. Man, i bet you really believe what you talk or write or your own reflection on the mirror…
Good luck, mate
Dear Matthew,
What unknown territories are you talking about? In this issue there are no unknown territories, everything has been documented in volumes.
Please do not talk or write about a subject that you obviously have very little information about. God forbid if everyone brain worked like yours when the next catastrophe will happen. You probably think Hitler was only protecting his country as well!!
Name calling shows lack of intelligence or conversely lack of intelligent things to say. In this case, since it seems that you have above average intelligence, at lease you can spell Armenia and perhaps point out the location on a map, my suggestion is for you to go forward and Read….Read…. Read, not only on Armenia but about our country, the United States of America and realize what it stands for.
Matthew,
From the sound of your post, it appears that you are completely unfamiliar with historical facts. Much of turkish territory came about because of the annihilation of the Armenian people through acts of genocide. Till this day, there are Armenian churches that were built in the early years of Christianity that are located all throughout turkey. These lands once belonged to Armenia. Today the turks have destroyed many of these churches and have converted some of the nicer ones into mosque’s, yes mosque’s! If you walk into those mosque, you can clearly see the Armenian writings on the walls, etched and carved into the stones. As Armenia was the world’s first country to accept Christianity as its national religion, these church’s date back to 1600’s and even before. Food for thought….
To Mathew:
“If Turekey went into Armenia and started making Armenian teritory theirs , what would the Armenians do…. Probably they would defend……YES… The Word is DEFEND”…………
You have it backwards. It is the Turks who have been occupying others for hundreds of years. That is exactly what Turks have done their whole history. Invade. Raped. Kill. Torture. Discriminate. Ask anyone living under Turkish rule from Africans to Europeans to the Middle East. Ask the Kurds, Greeks, Assyrians, anyone at all living under Turkish rule if the Turkish rule days were good or some of their worst times in history. Not one will say living under Turks was good. Not one! The truth is that The Armenians , Greeks & Assyrians were the only non Turks left under Turkish control at the time of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Turks lost 62% within a few short years and the Young Turks horrible ruling party decided upon GENOCIDE and carried it out. Turks today have recreated history to avoid the justice long overdue. Please read a history book outside of Turkey.
This won’t end Turk. NEVER!
Online petition – April 24 2009 : Express your disappointment against Obama’s April 24 statement while avoiding “genocide” characterization for the mass killings of Armenians by Ottomans Turks