Armenian Remembrance and the Politics of Genocide

Posted on Apr 24, 2011

Flickr / Somebody on This Earth

Armenians march in Los Angeles on Remembrance Day in 2008.

Today is Armenian Remembrance Day, celebrating the lives of the 1.5 million Armenians killed in 1915. Yet, nearly a century later, the issue is still highly charged, with President Obama taking note of the “horrific events” but refraining from using the word genocide. —JCL

USA Today:

Turkey, a key Islamic ally of the U.S. that angrily denies accusations of genocide, attacked Obama’s statement as “one-sided.”

“The statement distorts the historical facts.” said the Turkish foreign ministry. “Therefore, we find it very problematic and deeply regret it ... One-sided statements that interpret controversial historical events by a selective sense of justice prevent understanding of the truth.”

In his statement—issued late Saturday—Obama said: “I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed. A full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts is in all our interests.”

In the meantime, the chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America, Ken Hachikian, criticized Obama for a “disgraceful capitulation to Turkey’s threats” and failing to acknowledge what many historians describe as genocide.

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