MCCAIN RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
armradio.am
12.11.2009 11:10
The Republican Party’s 2008 Presidential nominee, Arizona Senator John
McCain, has publicly and properly recognized the Armenian Genocide,
breaking with his longstanding silence on this human rights issue
and, in the process, dramatically underscoring the post-election
retreat by his campaign opponent, President Barack Obama, from his
high-profile pledge to properly condemn and commemorate this crime,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
"I believe that genocide was committed against the Armenian people,
and I think there is ample documentation of that," Sen. McCain told
the Voice of America Georgian language service in an interview focusing
on the Caucasus as well as Armenia-Turkey relations.
During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Sen. McCain issued two
statements to the Armenian American community, both falling short of
properly characterizing as genocide the Ottoman Turkish Government’s
deportation and annihilation of its Armenian community. "It is fair to
say that one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, the brutal
murder of as many as one and a half million Armenians under the rule
of the Ottoman Empire, has also been one of the most neglected. The
suffering endured by the Armenian people during that period represented
the prologue to what has come to be known as humanity’s bloodiest
century," stated Sen. McCain in a September 29, 2008, statement.
Senator McCain has, throughout his tenure in the Congress, largely
opposed or remained indifferent to an array of Armenian American
issues. As recently as the last session of Congress, Senator McCain
publicly opposed Congressional recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
In 1999, he voted against restricting U.S. aid to Azerbaijan over
its blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia
and Nagorno Karabagh. He voted against Senator Bob Dole’s Armenian
Genocide Resolution in 1990.
Sen. McCain also supports the Turkey-Armenia Protocols process.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
