Posted on 04/25/2009 10:36:59 AM PDT by pobeda1945
YEREVAN, April 25 (RIA Novosti) - A prominent Armenian organization in the United States accused U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday of failing to follow up on his election promise to recognize the genocide of Armenians.
Obama made a statement on Friday dedicated to the commemoration of the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the end of the Ottoman period in 1915. However, the president called the deaths "one of the great atrocities of the 20th century" but stopped short of using the term "genocide" in his speech.
"President Obama had the opportunity to chart a new course toward the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey in his statement on April 24 by recognizing the Armenian Genocide, but he failed to deliver on the change he promised," the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) said in a statement.
"His failure to affirm the proud chapter in U.S. history, the American response to the first genocide of the 20th century, has needlessly delayed the cause of genocide affirmation and diminishes U.S. credibility with regard to genocide prevention," the statement quoted AAA Executive Director Bryan Ardouny as saying.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues.
A number of states have recognized the killings in Armenia as the first genocide of the 20th century, including Russia, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece, as well as 42 of the 50 U.S. states. The Vatican, the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches have also denounced the killings as genocide. Uruguay was the first to do so in 1965.
Turkey has always urged Armenia to end its attempts to have the killings recognized as an act of genocide.
Turkish and Armenian envoys have been holding closed negotiations in Switzerland for the past two years to try and stabilize ties.
The two countries came to an agreement Thursday on a "roadmap" aimed at normalizing bilateral relations.
If there was a way to blame the genocide and Bush and Cheney, Ozero would then recognize it.
Obama does not want to offend his Islamic buddies.
Obama, like all the Democrats, is soft on genocide. I wouldn’t expect any more out of him regarding Armenia than he’s already delivered.
I wonder how all those Armenian-Americans feel now that they walked away from the GOP to vote for Obama...especially after watching him kiss booty at the Turkish parliament.
“Who remembers now the extermination of the Armenians?”
- Adolph Hitler August 1939
I imagine they love him even more. There is mass emotional investment in Obama Mugabi.
I don’t know how Armenians voted in the election, but if they believed what Obama said, I have a bridge to sell them.
He sides with the Muslims, stupid.
"Guys, you can't spend your whole life worrying about your mistakes! You f*cked up - you trusted me! Get over it!"
"[O]ur true demand is compensation for this injustice. The world must know about what happened, and we have to a great extent succeeded. The Turkish side is well aware that the step to follow the admission of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey will be a demand for compensation and return of the lands. This is the reason why Turkey will not admit the Armenian Genocide"
The government of the modern democratic republic of Turkey admits the horrific things that happened during W.W.I and the years following. To the best of my knowledge that is true. The Armenians are after legal action to return to them eastern Turkey plus reparations.
The thing is vis-a-vis eastern Turkey some Kurds want it also. Now what?
Personally, I say to the Armenian diaspora:
We have enough problems. Please go back to Armenia and fight your battles with Turkey. Good luck. Thank you.
The same goes for all them foreign-sponsored Congressional caucuses. You know, as a citizen I have two Senators and one Representative. Foreigners get 100 Senators and 435 Representatives! Tain't fair, McGee.
The Only Reason Obama would care for Armenians was if they had an Armenian Birth certificate for him.
In Clinton’s case, he’d help them for cash. Not Obama — helping them would be against his faith.
Bingo. In O’Bummer’s eyes only the US is evil enough to commit genocide.
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