Armenian historian Suren Sargsyan and theatre critic, Ruben Babayan commented on the U.S. President Barack Obama's avoiding to use the term Genocide in yet another April 24 address.
As the expert noted at April 26 news conference in Yerevan, a failure to pronounce 'Genocide' does not necessarily suggest denial of the fact. “Being acknowledged by 21 countries already makes the Genocide a clear fact,” he stressed.
He characterized Armenian nation's increasing activity in a Genocide recognition issue as a positive fact.
As Babayan, in turn, noted, “Obama clearly expressed his position, except that he didn't use the 'Genocide' term. It would be worse to use it along with a statement to justify the Turks' crime,” he said, urging Armenians value the content, rather than the form.
U.S. President Barack Obama marked the anniversary of the massacre of Armenians in Turkey nearly a century ago by calling it a “horrific” slaughter, but once again stopped short of branding it Genocide.
In a written statement, Obama said the 1915 killings of some 1.5 million Armenians represent “one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.” But for the third straight year, he failed to use the word Genocide to describe it.
As a candidate for president, Obama repeatedly vowed to recognize the Armenian Genocide once in office, vowing "a principled commitment to commemorating and ending genocide." But since 2009, Obama has declined to use the word in the face of furious resistance from Turkey, a key NATO ally.
In his statement this year, Obama said “contested history destabilizes the present and stains the memory of those whose lives were taken.” He said America knows this from the dark chapters in its own history. He praised efforts in Armenia and Turkey "to foster a dialogue that acknowledges their common history.” But Obama confined himself to using the Armenian name for the atrocities, Meds Yeghern, and paying tribute “to the memories of those who perished.” He said his view of what took place hasn't changed since the campaign, adding, “A full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts is in all our interests.”
