'Armenian Genocide': Why Obama Won't Say the Words

President Obama's campaign promise – to refer to 'Armenian genocide' – remains unfulfilled on the 100th anniversary of when the killings started. US-Turkey relations hold sway, but the president also suggested his true feelings.
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: WASHINGTON — As a presidential candidate in 2008, Barack Obama promised to be the first American president to refer to the Turkish mass killing of Armenians that began in 1915 as “genocide.”

But on this anniversary, the 100th, President Obama has once again avoided the word. In a statement released Thursday night, he referred to it only as “the first mass atrocity of the 20th century."

“Beginning in 1915, the Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire were deported, massacred, and marched to their deaths,” Obama said. “Their culture and heritage in their ancient homeland were erased. Amid horrific violence that saw suffering on all sides, one and a half million Armenians perished.”

The reason for Obama’s reticence: Turkey, and its role as a key ally in NATO and in the conflicts of the Middle East. Armenia, a nation of 3 million people in the Caucasus, pales in geostrategic importance. (+ video) » | Linda Feldmann, Staff writer | Friday, April 24, 2015

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Germany defies Turkey, calls Armenian massacre 'genocide' (+video): Germany abruptly shifted its policy Monday from a steadfast refusal to use the term "genocide" to describe the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces 100 years ago. » | Erik Kirschbaum, Reuters | Monday, April 20, 2015

The Guardian View on Turkey and the Armenians: History Matters

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: The battle over the word genocide is all but won, but the official Turkish state remains in denial

It is a hard thing to admit that the state to which you belong was founded on a crime and that the history taught in your schools is full of lies. Yet there is no redemption without repentance and, on the centenary of the beginning of the genocidal campaign against the Armenians, it is sad to record that Turkey has still not faced the facts about what happened in 1915. The answer is quite simple in outline, if complex in its dreadful detail. The Armenians, who had lived in Anatolia since long before Turks arrived from central Asia, were killed, deported, or forcibly converted to Islam. Estimates suggest that at least 600,000 perished, while hundreds of thousands were expelled from or fled the Turkish lands, never to return. » | Editorial | Thursday, April 23, 2015

Woman Who Cut Internet to Georgia and Armenia 'Had Never Heard of Web'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A 75-year-old woman arrested for single-handedly cutting off the internet in Georgia and Armenia has tearfully insisted she is innocent and had never heard of the internet.

In a case that has attracted worldwide interest, pensioner Hayastan Shakarian is accused of forcing thousands of people in both countries offline for hours after hacking into a fibre-optic cable while digging for scrap metal.

But Shakarian, a Georgian of Armenian origin, told AFP that she was just a "poor old woman" who was not capable of committing such a crime.

"I did not cut this cable. Physically, I could not do it," she said, repeatedly bursting into tears as she spoke.

Ms Shakarian, who lives in the poverty-stricken Georgian village of Armazi, around 10 miles from the capital Tbilisi, said that she had only been collecting firewood.

"I have no idea what the internet is," she added. » | Monday, April 11, 2011

A Bitter Century: Armenia's Fears

Turkey Threatens to Expel 100,000 Armenians Over 'Genocide' Row
THE TELEGRAPH: Turkey has threatened to expel 100,000 Armenians from the country in response to the US branding the First World War killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "genocide".

Ottoman soldiers posing in front of Armenians they hung on a public place, image taken in Alep in 1915. Photograph: The Telegraph
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, said the position of the immigrants, many of whom have lived there as refugees for a generation, was being reviewed in the wake of the row.

Armenia claims more than 500,000 of its countrymen died in bitter in-fighting as the Ottoman Empire disintegrated at the height of the First World War.

Turkey concedes that tens of thousands died in ethnic fighting but vehemently disputes accusations that massacres were systematically planned.

Tensions with Armenia have recently escalated as a well-organised worldwide campaign has persuaded the American Congress and Swedish parliament to adopt resolutions condemning the incidents as "genocide".

An Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day Bill has also been put before the House of Commons and Mr Erdogan has warned Gordon Brown that relations would suffer if parliament passes it.

Turkish law already makes discussion of genocide an offence punishable by imprisonment.

"There are currently 170,000 Armenians living in our country. Only 70,000 of them are Turkish citizens, but we are tolerating the remaining 100,000," said Mr Erdogan.

"If necessary, I may have to tell these 100,000 to go back to their country because they are not my citizens. I don't have to keep them in my country." >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Related:

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Turkish EU Minister on the Armenian Genocide Controversy: 'We Are Very Sensitive About This Issue' >>> Interview conducted by Bernhard Zand and Daniel Steinvorth | Tuesday, March 16, 2010

THE GUARDIAN: Turkey Threatens 'Serious Consequences' After US Vote on Armenian Genocide >>> Robert Tait in Istanbul and Ewen MacAskill in Washington | Friday, March 05, 2010

A Bitter Century: Armenian Survivor

White House Seeks to Block Turkish ‘Genocide’ Bill
MAIL ONLINE: The White House is seeking to block a controversial US bill branding the mass slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in World War One as genocide.

A congressional committee caused a major diplomatic row last week by voting in favour of the legislation.

Turkey recalled its ambassador from Washington and said the move would damage relations with America’s key NATO ally.

But State Secretary Hillary Clinton tried to defuse the row by claiming the Obama administration would ‘work very hard’ to prevent the genocide bill going to a full vote on Capitol Hill.

'We are against this. Now we believe that the US Congress will not take any decision on this subject,’ she said.

Mrs Clinton is hoping her reassurance will help defuse the rumpus over the dark, century-old chapter in Turkish history. >>> David Gardner | Sunday, March 07, 2010

Hillary Clinton veut empêcher un vote du Congrès sur l'Arménie
LE MONDE: La secrétaire d'Etat américaine Hillary Clinton a déclaré, vendredi 5 mars, que l'administration américaine allait "travailler très dur" pour bloquer le vote au Congrès d'une résolution qualifiant de "génocide" les massacres d'Arméniens sous l'Empire ottoman. Les propos de Mme Clinton se veulent conciliants envers la Turquie, qui avait appelé Washington à bloquer cette résolution.

Les responsables turcs ont déclaré qu'une adoption de ce texte aurait des conséquences négatives non seulement sur les relations entre Ankara et Washington, mais également sur le processus de réconciliation avec l'Arménie.

"Nous espérons que les relations turco-américaines ne serons pas soumises à une nouvelle épreuve. Sinon, les perspectives auxquelles nous allons être confrontés ne vont pas être positives", a souligné le ministre des affaires étrangères turc, Ahmet Davutoglu, évoquant une "affaire d'honneur national". >>> LeMonde.fr avec AFP | Vendredi 05 Mars 2010

A Bitter Century: Turkish Town Has Big Dreams
A younger generation in Tuzluca, Turkey wants to bridge the historical divide between Turks and Armenians. But as WSJ's Andy Jordan discovers, potentially opening the town's salt mine to Armenian workers is merely salt in the wounds of the past.

Warning! Some Images Are Very Graphic: A Bitter Century: Armenian Survivor

Infidels under Islam. Learn from History. One of the Largest Genocides in World History
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