Armenian diaspora says Obama failing to keep election promise

14:34 | 25/ 04/ 2009

YEREVAN, April 25 (RIA Novosti) – A prominent Armenian organization in
the United States accused U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday of
failing to follow up on his election promise to recognize the genocide
of Armenians.

Obama made a statement on Friday dedicated to the commemoration of the
deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the end of the Ottoman
period in 1915. However, the president called the deaths "one of the
great atrocities of the 20th century" but stopped short of using the
term "genocide" in his speech.

"President Obama had the opportunity to chart a new course toward the
normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey in his statement
on April 24 by recognizing the Armenian Genocide, but he failed to
deliver on the change he promised," the Armenian Assembly of America
(AAA) said in a statement.

"His failure to affirm the proud chapter in U.S. history, the American
response to the first genocide of the 20th century, has needlessly
delayed the cause of genocide affirmation and diminishes U.S.
credibility with regard to genocide prevention," the statement quoted
AAA Executive Director Bryan Ardouny as saying.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding
and awareness of Armenian issues.

A number of states have recognized the killings in Armenia as the first
genocide of the 20th century, including Russia, France, Italy, Germany,
the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece, as well as 42 of the 50 U.S.
states. The Vatican, the European Parliament and the World Council of
Churches have also denounced the killings as genocide. Uruguay was the
first to do so in 1965.

Turkey has always urged Armenia to end its attempts to have the
killings recognized as an act of genocide.

Turkish and Armenian envoys have been holding closed negotiations in
Switzerland for the past two years to try and stabilize ties.

The two countries came to an agreement Thursday on a "roadmap" aimed at
normalizing bilateral relations.