ArmenPress
April 24 2004
JOHN KERRY’S STATEMENT NOT POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, OSKANIAN BELIEVES
YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS: Armenian foreign affairs minister
Vartan Oskanian commended today a US Democratic presidential hopeful,
John Kerry, who called for international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide Thursday in a statement issued to Armenian Americans marking
the 89th anniversary of that crime against humanity.
“I join Armenian Americans and Armenians worldwide in mourning the
victims of the Armenian Genocide and I call on governments and people
everywhere to formally recognize this tragedy. Only by learning from
this dark period of history and working to prevent future genocides
can we truly honor the memories of those Armenians who suffered so
unjustly,” Kerry said in the statement, outlining his longstanding
support for a broad range of Armenian American concerns.
Speaking to reporters at THE Genocide Memorial today, Oskanian
praised the US-Armenian organizations for their efficient work
towards international recognition of the genocide, downplaying also
allegations that Kerry’s statement was politically motivated to seek
the votes of American Armenians in 2004 autumn polls.
“Of course there were precedents when presidential hopefuls used
to say one thing before the election and different things after being
elected. John Kerry has been supporting the genocide motion when he
was in Senate and I do not think there are political speculations
behind his statement,” Oskanian said, adding that genocide
recognition motions are on agendas of those US states which have not
officially acknowledged it.