Agence France Presse, France
March 12 2009
US lawmakers press Obama on Armenian ‘genocide’
WASHINGTON (AFP) ‘ US President Barack Obama should label Ottoman
World War I-era mass killings of Armenians as "genocide," even though
such a step would anger US ally Turkey, US lawmakers said in a letter
to him.
"We do not minimize Ankara?s threats of adverse action when you
recognize the genocide, or when Congress takes action to formally
recognize the genocide, but we believe that our alliance is strong
enough to withstand the truth," they wrote Obama on Tuesday.
Obama, who is expected to visit Turkey next month, repeatedly pledged
during his 2008 White House run that he would recognize the 1915-1917
massacres as genocide and has strongly backed US congressional
resolutions to that effect.
"No president in the postwar era has come into office with a stronger
understanding of the historic facts of the genocide, or with a greater
track record of speaking plainly on this terrible chapter," wrote the
lawmakers.
US presidents commemorate the killings every year, but Ronald Reagan
was the only one to label them genocide. The 94th anniversary of the
slaughters is April 24.
The letter was signed by Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and
Adam Schiff and Republican Representatives Mark Kirk and George
Radanovich.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were systematically
killed by Ottoman Turks in an act of genocide between 1915 and 1917 as
their empire fell apart — a claim supported by several other
countries.
Turkey rejects the genocide label, arguing that 300,000-500,000
Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when
Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided
with invading Russian troops.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Sunday there was a "risk"
that Obama would take such a step and warned that the move would only
impede efforts to reconcile Turkey and Armenia.