OBAMA: TALKS SHOULD CONTINUE ON GENOCIDE ISSUE
Associated Press Online
April 6, 2009 Monday 11:32 AM GMT
President Barack Obama ays he is not pressing Turkish leaders to
acknowledge that their country committed genocide against Armenians
during World War I because he does not want to interfere with
negotiations on the matter.
Obama said Monday he stood by his 2008 assertion that Ottoman Turks
carried out widespread killings of Armenians decades ago. But he said
he would not press Turkish leaders to acknowledge that genocide took
place because Turks and Armenians are engaged in talks that may bear
fruit soon.
Obama said at a news conference in Ankara, "I want to be as encouraging
as possible."
Turkish President Abdullah Gul stood next to Obama. He said historians,
not politicians, should decide how to label what happened nearly a
century ago.