WASHINGTON (A.W.)—The YouTube video of a conversation between an Armenian American activist and Vice-President Joe Biden, in which the latter said that Armenian President Serge Sarkisian had asked him not to recognize the Armenian Genocide on the eve of the signing of the roadmap agreement between Turkey and Armenia, generated a harsh and prompt response from the Armenian President’s office.
Commenting on the YouTube video, Sarkisian’s press secretary Armen Arzumanyan said the president did not call Biden and did not make the statement attributed to him. Arzumanyan invited the White House to release the official records of the conversation.
“Upon Joe Biden’s request, two phone conversations were held in 2009, during which time the president of the Republic of Armenia did not make the statement attributed to him in the video—either directly or indirectly. On the contrary, in all his public speeches and official meetings, President Serge Sarkisian has emphasized the importance of the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, and urged not to justify the delay of recognition with the ongoing negotiations with Turkey. Being confident that the White House has at its disposal all of the U.S. vice-president’s official records and phone conversations, the RA presidential administration officially gives its agreement to publicize the noted phone conversation records,” he said.
The full text of the exchange between Biden and the activist follows.
Question: “I’m Armenian, and I want to thank you for the work you did in the Senate. I have a question. I am very involved in the Armenian American community and as you know we’ve been…”
Vice-President Biden: “Oh, I know.”
Question: “… we’ve been very, very burned. I want to know what is the message that we should be giving to our community?”
Biden: “What you should be giving to your community is that we are not backing off. The Turks have to come to the realization of what the reality is. And what we got to do is, you know, this, the compromise that was going on and being worked at for a while… Tell them that it was the Armenian President that called me and said ‘Look, do not force this issue now, while we are in negotiations.’ We passed. That’s past right now. So anyway, reality has a way of intruding.”
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Reality sure does have a way of intruding Mr. Biden. You can tell members of your administration that they will face that reality point blank come November.
VP Biden is a liar.
Yes, Biden may well be lying.
On the other hand, what does it say about President Sargsian that many of us think that the story could be true?
And what does it say that we feel that Sargsian does not put forth the Genocide issue as strongly or frequently as he should?
This is where our skepticism comes from. The lack of credibility on Sargsian’s part is his own doing, not Biden’s.
One example is the Protocols where the implication seemed to be that the factuality of the Genocide would be subject to a debate by Turks and Armenians. Even if that was not what it would be, why was it put in the Protocols to begin with? What was the compelling reason?
Sargsian should take this Biden incident as yet another wakeup call.
Let vp biden clarify his statements and substantiate his claims about what the Armenian President may have said by publicizing his phone conversations with President Sarkisian.
If he can prove it, I may believe him.
Kudos to the yerdasart for asking and recording this question to his face. The next time the VP tries to place his hands on you while trying to attribute his administrations faults to something else, back off a bit and remove his hands asking him politely not to touch you. Tell him his hands have blood on them…
First of all,it seems that my original letter was discarded;either by the editor or internet moderator.
I had stated that chalk this event as a proof of inexperienced Armenian president and as a win for turkish influence on US government.This is another proof that ARF’s stand against the so called protocols was RIGHT from the beginning.That was a gimmick by Turkey to delay the recognition of ARMENIAN GENOCIDE. Let’s see what kind of trick they will pull out this time when April 2011 approaches,and what kind of evasive response will President Obama give to this .The only president in recent history who mentioned THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE as such was the late president Ronald Reagan;the rest all are/were evasive and no balls.
Dear Ham. Maj.
You are dead wrong, VP Biden is the most open, transparent and honest of all, his words are right from his heart which among politicians is an extremely rear commodity to an extend that to their standards even sometimes he sounds stupid to them.
Now let me educate you.
The Sevres Treaty of 1920 signed by Turks and the WW I allies; assigning USA as mediator where after US congressional approval and President Woodrow Wilson signature with grate seal of USA alond with a map which clearly has drawn boundaries between Armenia and Turkey with provision of a wide buffer zone in between; to date is the only valid document in the world which unfortunately is being held back by US just to keep Turks tamed, and Russia by learning that by using the disputed lands between Armenia and Azerbaijan are exactly doing the same thing on those two Independent countries.
Later Pentagon did use the same control tactic by introducing a new map of that region showing a large area named “New Kurdistan” which also includes the northern part of Iraq which has large Kurdish population; assigning less territories that what was assigned by above mentioned map to Armenia.
These are all games without any legal basis because as I mentioned above The Sevres Treaty to date is the only International legal documents signed by countries.
Now all above said if we go back to the so-called “Protocol” between Armenia & Turkey if we read it carefully; top to bottom is nonsense and formality garbage except when it talks about the borders between Armenia and Turkey where the language is trying to get consent from Armenia as a nation to nullify “The Sevres Treaty” by agreeing to stay within EXISTING BOARDERS; because nullifying the 1920 treaty requires a document signed between two COUNTRIES only, any other legal document which lacks that condition in one or both sides (which there are some on the table) is not valid to nullify such document.
I’m sure VP Joe Biden comment was based on having that knowledge; something that either you didn’t have or if you are a “Politician” was hiding it.
Now that you got educated, I think at this point an apology to Honorable VP Joe Biden is due, go ahead…..
Let me get this straight.
Armenia’s President said the following during the signing of the protocols and then restated it again today: the RA doesn’t have a problem with the US recognizing the Armenian Genocide and in fact official Yerevan urges them to do so without delay.
Biden is now saying that we didn’t recognize the Armenian Genocide because official Yerevan asked us not to. In other words US officials may want us to believe that they supposedly misunderstood the RA. I think its safe to say that the RA has clarified and restated their sentiments quite clearly for the administration now.
So now that this supposed misconception is out in the open, what are Obama and Biden waiting for…or is there another lame excuse waiting for our community?
Dear Osik,
I’m writing to you as to the most educated person among all Armenians to share with you my finding that among the beings created by Our Almighty Creator there is no such creature as HONORABLE Joe Biden. Armenian President’s Administration publicly labeled Biden as a liar. It is now up to Biden to clear his name or to swallow the insult. My guess is he will swallow.
Dear Osik:
Yes, Joe Biden is not only a liar, he is an EVASIVE LIAR!
Was this a Biden gaff again? Did Sarkisyan really say it? It all depends on whether the US withheld aid to Artsagh or Armenia in exchange for Sarkisyan’s acquiescence about the Diaspora’s rights. Don’t forget, Sarkisyan is from Artsagh and he may have horse traded the Diaspora’s 2 Trillion dollar property rights against Turkey so as to preserve his and the Oligarch stooges property interests in Artsagh. This could be a ploy from president Obama (his father was Muslim) to pressure Sarkisyan to make concessions to the Azerbadeljanis.
I would like the full comments in proper context. Let us see.
FOR SURE ONE OF YOU ARE LYING …………………………………………………………. SIR, BE CAREFUL ARMENIAN PEOPLE ARE SMARTER THAN YOU. THEY WILL FIND OUT THE TRUTH.
I would believe Biden over Sargsyan any day. Biden has a reputation for unedited comments. He gets in trouble for this once in a while. This sounds like another honest, unedited fact.
Like you were on conference call with them to know about all the details!
Sorry this was addressed to Avedis.
I don’t trust either man, but I’m going to need some proof though if I am to believe that Biden’s comments are indeed fabricated. The Armenian president was stupid enough to agree to the protocols after all. He may in fact be a bigger enemy to Armenia than either the Turks or the Azeris.
Both Sarkisian and Biden politically are right…..it all depends who “decoded” the genocide word from English into Armenian or ViceVersa …it’s seems to me that “real genocide” word play a huge politics between US and Turkey these days!!
After all this “sensitive” word of Genocide translated into White House dictionary as Mez Yeghern two years ago by Biden’s master..
This Biden dude is a liar and a shame! The Armenian President never said that and that’s why he has asked the White House to reveal its records! Damn liars!
Hello Osik:
Thanks for your attempt to educate us on a historical discourse!
In no way does it refute the fact that Joe Biden, if not a liar, is
certainly evasive!
Dear Grish,
The 50th anniversary was a turning point for the Armenian Genocide in the world but at that time it was mostly for educating ourselves (Armenians) and Mets Yeghern was used at that time and no one complained about, later when it started infiltrate in news media of the host countries in Europe and US with significant amount of Armenian population, the foreign language media first and then us started using The Armenian Genocide instead.
We all know that always was and still is a big joy if a high ranking none Armenian official uses an Armenian word in any public event, it elevates that gathering to its highest point, now if some bias comrades of mine allow me to say something without getting sarcastic comments back, We all know that Joe Biden has been around for a long time; now IF he has used that M. Y. Before April 2010 comment of the President Obama; then everybody should agree with me that it is an unfair low blow to bring it in this context.
Dear Osik,
I for one am flattered when a non Armenian utters an Armenian word.
However, in the context of the ARMENIAN GENOCIDE on the international arena ,it is not acceptable.If you ask why? because the rest of the world does not know that “Medz Yeghern” is the same as THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.That’s why.No it is not acceptable by a world figure and on the eve of April 24 to say that and NOT the GENOCIDE word.No balls.You cannot defend that evasive statement in NO shape and form.
I hope the truth comes out sooner rather than later;who said what and when.
Bottom line is ,we heard him say the “The Armenian Genocide” during his running for the most powerful position in the world,but he laughed yes laughed at us by reneging on his promise and did not say the true powerful words “ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’.
Dear Avedis,
Unfortunately we are all still evading the fact that “The Cold War” still exists and by giving the total credit to President Reagan; every night we go to bed with peace of mind.
Do I need to say that it still exists and after the collapse of the USSR in the Chess game the side (I don’t want to use colors) which was hibernating when woke up faced with the sour reality that the other side has already gobbled some of its items from the board and soon after started retaliating to get even in the game.
Having that in mind that those two blocs with some modifications still exist and considering that which side the Armenia nowadays is; then isn’t it naïve to assume that the other bloc would and should dance to the opponent’s tunes?
Dear Osik,
Mez Yeghern is good for the moral of Armenians…Genocide to force Turkey to accept Mez Yeghern…just like Shoha, Jews used among themselves and Holocaust in world stage..21 advanced countries use word of Genocide and only one country used Mez Yeghern, which morally is wrong for Armenians!! Unfortunately Genocide word is a useful tools in the world of politics, especially for USA, in order to manipulate their immediate political wills…
Politician like Biden is not HOLY and he does not care for the truth of Mez Yeghern, or “Armenian cause” Mr Biden’s goal, to bring Turks into “forced negotiation” table, where “stupid bird” tried to be free for a while in the land of Ottomans!!…all I can say that no politician is born to be holy, and Biden is not exceptional, even Sen. Edward Kennedy shortly before his death, wrote a letter to Pope and asked God’s forgiveness, for unholy decisions, that he made during his political life…according to Bible we all born sinners, especially POLITICIANS…
Osik: U.S. Senator Barak Obama promised to recognize the Genocide, not the Medz Yeghern, when he’d become U.S. President.
Dear Greg,
I never ever said to use M. Y. instead of Genocide it is even stupid to use any word from one language in the other, I was just explaining the history of the M. Y. in reply to Grish that as he says himself Joe Biden used that about 2 years ago and I was telling him that it is not fair to say he did it with bad intentions.
Look Greg, we can’t go back and dig the records of those phone conversations its national security issue on both sides and to my knowledge further debate about it to find out who is right or wrong is just waste of time so let’s leave politics to politicians because politics means to hide something from someone to gain advantage and that to me means LYING.
BTW, One thing from video that I wasn’t clear for me is what the hell Biden is doing to that youngster; looks like he is conducting a body search on him. :-)))
mjm,
Please read it carefully I’m not suggesting to swap Genocide with anything I’m just giving the history of the M. Y. which has been used before just by Armenians.
Also read my below reply to Grish; of course carefully.
Folks,
Fortunately I went back and watched the video again and I came to this conclusion that the people who for some reason don’t like Joe Biden managed to drag us into a stupid dialog of Biden and Mets Yeghern/Genocide expression and we totally ignored the most important part of his comment addressed to Turkey and Turks which I think it was stupid of all of participants; yes including myself to get trapped in such obvious “Tea Party” like propaganda.
Well; now I feel good about because if you go and watch the video again you will agree with me that despite all anti Armenian and pro Turkey sentiment in US policies; as I said before Joe Biden still talks from his heart inviting Turkey to drop its denial nonsense and recognize The Armenian Genocide.
The U.S. Embassy in Armenia responds:
http://armenianweekly.com/2010/10/29/breaking-news-u-s-embassy-in-armenia-comments-on-youtube-video/
I was wounding if this was the official US response to Armenian Government request in regards of “Releasing” those phone conversations; because if it was then should have been line by line dissected the same way that the content of that controversial video was presented, or as an official Audio and/or video; because partial narration of phone conversations doesn’t constitute “Release”.
As with all Washingtonian criminals, the American VP is a liar. The self-destructive peasants in Armenia’s so-called “opposition” were quick to disseminate this news, as they do with every other anti-Armenia propaganda that is thrown at them by Western or Turkish intelligence agencies. The White House has since retracted the VP’s statement. This the “opposition” in Armenia courageous enough now to do the same with this followup?
Avo,
As I mentioned before Joe Biden is the most honest of (and I’m quoting you) “Those Washington Criminals” and I’m sure that those 2 phone conversations that US embassy was referring to; apparently contained more valuable and even damaging information that both sides agreed by the US embassy partially “truth but not the whole truth” comments; to end that subject, or at least it seems to be the case so far.
BTW Avo, Throwing intimidating harsh language in correspondence and/or in face to face conversation doesn’t add any value to the context; in contrary it just exposes the lack of ability and civilization of one.
What clearly stands out to me is the fact that our self-destructive peasantry are more than ready to begin (and I’m quoting you) “Throwing intimidating harsh language” towards official Yerevan in a heartbeat – but when it comes to criticizing a severely corrupt global criminal entity like Washington our peasantry all of a sudden becomes nuanced and balanced… Don’t waste your time on me, I’m not here to try to make friends or even be civilized. I am here to call it as I see it. And, as I see it, Armenians are Armenia’s greatest threat.