NO SURPRISE IN WHITE HOUSE’S APRIL 24 STATEMENT
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 25 2008
US President George W. Bush has once again avoided using the word
"genocide" in a traditional message released every year to commemorate
tragic World War I-era events that Armenians claim amount to genocide.
"On this day of remembrance, we honor the memory of the victims of
one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, the mass killings
and forced exile of as many as 1.5 million Armenians at the end of
the Ottoman Empire. I join the Armenian community in America and
around the world in commemorating this tragedy and mourning the loss
of so many innocent lives," Bush said in his message. He called for
more efforts to promote peace and said the US welcomed "the efforts
by individuals in Armenia and Turkey to foster reconciliation and
peace, and support joint efforts for an open examination of the past
in search of a shared understanding of these tragic events." He also
called on the Armenian government to promote democracy.
A commemoration ceremony was held on Capitol Hill in Washington on
Wednesday, the eve of April 24 — the day Armenians claim marks the
anniversary of the beginning of a systematic genocide campaign against
Armenians in the last years of the Ottoman Empire.
Senator threatens to block new envoy
Meanwhile, a Democratic member of the US Senate has threatened to
block the appointment of an ambassadorial nominee to Armenia unless she
labels the World War I-era killings of Anatolian Armenians as genocide.
In August of last year, after a year-long confrontation, the White
House bowed to pressure from the Armenian lobby, withdrawing its
nomination of a career diplomat as ambassador in Yerevan. The move
was hailed by Armenian groups in the United States.
The White House’s nomination of Richard Hoagland was blocked in
the last Congress, and the Bush administration resubmitted his name
in January 2007 when the new legislature convened. But a Democratic
senator, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, placed a hold on the nomination
for the second time in January 2007 because of Hoagland’s refusal to
call the World War I-era killings of Armenians "genocide." A hold is
a procedural privilege accorded senators that prevents a nomination
from going forward to a confirmation hearing. Hoagland’s predecessor,
John Evans, had his tour of duty in Armenia cut short because, in a
social setting, he referred to the killings as genocide.
In late March of this year US President George W. Bush nominated a
career diplomat, Marie Yovanovitch, who is currently ambassador to
the Kyrgyz Republic, to be US ambassador to Armenia.
"I plan to direct the tough questions which I had directed to Bush’s
previous nominee Hoagland to the new nominee, too. I hope her answers
will be what they need to be. Otherwise, I won’t hesitate to block
the appointment," Menendez was quoted as saying by the Anatolia
news agency.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
