The Hill, DC
APril 24 2010
Armenian group slams Obama’s ‘disgraceful capitulation’
By Bridget Johnson – 04/24/10 02:13 PM ET
Calling his statement a "disgraceful capitulation," an Armenian
advocacy group scathingly rebuked President Barack Obama for again not
using the word "genocide" to refer to the killings of 1.5 million
Armernians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
Obama referred to "the inhumanity of 1915" and "the awful events of
1915" in his Saturday statement to mark Armenian Remembrance Day.
"President Obama faced a stark choice: to honor his conscience and
commitment to recognize the Armenian Genocide or to remain an
accomplice to Turkey’s denial of truth and justice for this crime,"
Armenian National Committee of America Chairman Ken Hachikian said in
a statement. "Sadly, for the U.S. and worldwide efforts to end the
cycle of genocide, he made the wrong choice, allowing Turkey to
tighten its gag-rule on American genocide policy."
The Turkish Coalition of America, however, responded to Obama’s
statement by wondering when he would mark the deaths of Ottoman Turks
around the same time period.
"What is, however, forgotten and even denied, is the equally tragic
loss of even more Muslim lives in this turbulent period of Ottoman
history," TCA President G. Lincoln McCurdy said in a statement
Saturday. "The suffering of one people does not justify or negate the
suffering of others, and all who lost their lives deserve to be
remembered on this day of remembrance. Where does the ethnic cleansing
of Ottoman Turks from the Balkans, Eastern Turkey and the Caucuses
with 5 million lost and 5.5 million refugees come on the President’s
list of `worst atrocities of the 20th century?’ Do they also deserve
at least an annual presidential remembrance from him, as he dutifully
makes on this occasion every year?"
McCurdy said that recognizing the Muslim deaths would not "dimish
Armenian suffering," but "place the Armenian tragedy in its proper
historical context."
McCurdy also urged the establishment of a joint historical commission
"tasked with uncovering a complete historical narrative that could
pave the way for reconciliation between the Turkish and Armenian
people."
ANCA referred to Obama’s promise as a presidential candidate that he
would call the killings genocide if elected. "The facts are
undeniable," Obama said in a Jan. 19, 2008, statement. "An official
policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an
untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the
Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as
president I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."
ANCA did note that Obama didn’t use Saturday’s statement to push
protocols between Turkey and Armenia as he did in 2009. The group said
it sent the president a letter on April 7, asking him to refrain from
pushing policy on the remembrance day," stating an "explanation of
U.S. priorities regarding Armenia-Turkey relations or other current
foreign policy issues, while certainly entirely appropriate in other
settings, clearly does not belong in a Presidential April 24th
statement, just as a statement of U.S. policy on the Israel- Arab
peace process would not be appropriate in Presidential remarks devoted
to remembering the Holocaust."
The group stressed, though, that Obama gave "euphemisms and evasive
terminology to characterize this crime against humanity."
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