REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES LIKELY TO DISAPPOINT US ARMENIANS
Today’s Zaman
Feb 5 2008
Turkey
US Republican candidates for the presidency are cool toward Armenian
demands for recognition of an alleged genocide at the hands of the
late Ottoman Empire, their responses to an inquiry by a US Armenian
group have revealed.
Unlike his Democrat rivals, Republican presidential hopeful John McCain
has notably refrained using the term "genocide," while outlining his
views on "issues of special concern to the Armenian American community"
in a letter sent to an influential Armenian diaspora organization,
the Arme-nian National Committee of America (ANCA).
Another Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, who was also contacted by
the ANCA for the same purpose, did not send a letter in response.
Instead, his campaign officials shared with the ANCA copies of
proclamations made by Romney during his tenure as Massachusetts
governor. In his first three statements during his four years in
office, Romney did use the term genocide to describe events of the
World War I years, though his fourth and final statement refrained
from using the term. To date, the "Romney for President" campaign
has not issued any statement on issues of concern to the Armenian
American community, the ANCA noted.
Last month, both Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton,
in statements sent to the ANCA, have pledged to officially recognize
the controversial World War I-era killings of Anatolian Armenians as
genocide if they become president. Late last month, the ANCA announced
its support for Obama.
ANCA announced on its Web site over the weekend that McCain, in his
letter sent to the organization on Friday, condemned "the brutal
murder of as many as 1.5 million Armenians under the rule of the
Ottoman Empire," and praised the Armenian American community for
"ensuring that one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century is
never forgotten." Yet, McCain’s letter "notably fell short of properly
characterizing the Armenian Genocide," the ANCA stressed.