National Journal’s CongressDaily
March 12, 2009 Thursday
AM Edition
Obama Urged To Call WWI Armenian Deaths Genocide
Four House members have asked President Obama to follow up on campaign
statements and label a 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide,
Reutersreported Wednesday.
The pressure on Obama comes ahead of an expected presidential trip to
Turkey, which has warned that such declarations by the United States
would damage relations. Turkey denies that up to 1.5 million Armenians
suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I.
Ronald Reagan was the only U.S. president to publicly call the
killings genocide. Others avoided the term out of concern for the
sensitivities of Turkey, an important NATO ally. Turkey accepts that
many Armenians were killed, but denies they were victims of a
systematic genocide. The 94th anniversary of the killings is April 24.
"As a presidential candidate, you were … forthright in discussing
your support for genocide recognition, saying that ‘America deserves a
leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide and responds
forcefully to all genocides.’ We agree with you completely," a letter
to Obama from the lawmakers said.
It was signed by Reps.Mark Kirk, R-Ill.;Frank Pallone, D-N.J.;George
Radanovich, R-Calif.; andAdam Schiff, D-Calif.