OBAMA MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
RTT News
April 24 2009
President Barack Obama marked the 94th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide Friday, calling the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians during
World War I "one of the great atrocities of the 20th century."
"History, unresolved, can be a heavy weight," Obama said. "Just as
the terrible events of 1915 remind us of the dark prospect of man’s
inhumanity to man, reckoning with the past holds out the powerful
promise of reconciliation."
"I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and
my view of that history has not changed," he continued. "My interest
remains the achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of
the facts."
Obama said that the best way to achieve that goal is to support the
efforts of the Turkish and Armenian people to work through their
"painful history."
"Together, Armenia and Turkey can forge a relationship that is
peaceful, productive and prosperous," he said. "And together, the
Armenian and Turkish people will be stronger as they acknowledge
their common history and recognize their common humanity."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, also commented on the anniversary
of the massacre, which took place in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to
1923, urging the United States to formally recognize the genocide.
"It is long past time for the U.S. Government to formally recognize
the Armenian Genocide," she said.
"If we ignore history then we are destined to repeat the mistakes of
the past," Pelosi added, referencing Rwanda and Darfur.