KIRO MANOYAN: PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL USE THE WORD "GENOCIDE" ON APRIL 24
Gita Elibekyan

"Radiolur"
08.04.2009 17:12

US President Barack Obama will use the word "genocide" in his April
24th address, Head of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office Kiro Manoyan told a
press conference today. He added that the US President will thereby
respect his pledge to his citizens. "If he decided not to respect his
promise, it will lead to political consequences," Kiro Manoyan said.

The Armenian community is actively working with the Congress, and its
possible counteraction should not be neglected. If not that political
influence, Barack Obama could have nothing to say in Turkey, while
he became the first US President to suggest Turkey to study its own
history and reckon with it, Kiro Manoyan said.

US President’s meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and
Turkey in Istanbul evidences that there is an opportunity for the
establishment of the Armenian-Turkish relations and opening of the
border. Turkey got involved in the process out of its own interests,
trying to increase its role in the region after the August events,
which is impossible without relations with Armenia.

If Turkey yields to Azerbaijani threats and the negotiations produce
no result in the near future, the Armenian side will not continue the
talks. 9 COur President will not want to extend the negotiations for
years. We want to see practical results soon," he noted, expressing
confidence that diplomatic relations with Turkey would be established
and the border would be opened this year.

According to Kiro Manoyan, up to now the Armenian diplomacy has
succeeded in leaving the Karabakh issue out of the agenda of the
Armenian-Turkish negotiations, and Turkey is trying to convince
Azerbaijan that it will not "leave" that country, although Ilham
Aliyev’s refusal to visit Istanbul speaks about discrepancies between
the two countries.

"The Armenian-Turkish relations will once be established, but it’s
important for Armenia not to sacrifice its interests in the talks. We
must not allow any point in the agreement that would question the
fact of the Armenian Genocide," Kiro Manoyan said.