Use of term Genocide in Obama's address is a matter of moral image of the U.S.

February 15, 2010 - 18:25 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net -
The impatience the international community and the Armenian public are waiting with whether the U.S. president use the term Genocide in his annual address to the Armenian community of the United States or not is disrespectful to the memory of Genocide victims, MP Tigran Torosyan, ex-Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia told a news conference in Yerevan.

According to Torosyan, whether Obama will use the Genocide term in his April 24 address is a question of moral image of the U.S and Armenia should not interfere with it.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.