OBAMA BACKS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ALLEGATIONS
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 18 2007
US Senator Barack Obama, a presidential candidate for the 2008
elections, revealed he supported Armenian allegations of genocide at
the hands of the Ottoman Empire, Armenian reports said.
The Democratic senator, speaking at a breakfast briefing in Washington,
D.C., with participants from Illinois, said: "For those who aren’t
aware, there was a genocide that did take place against the Armenian
people. It is one of these situations where we have seen a constant
denial on the part of the Turkish government and others that this
occurred. It has become a sore spot diplomatically."
He was responding to a question from an official from Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA), an influential Armenian lobbying group
in the US, on whether he would support a resolution urging the US
administration to recognize the alleged genocide.
ANCA Eastern Region Executive Director Karine Birazian commended
Obama for his stance. "Armenian Americans in Illinois and across the
nation look forward to Senator Obama becoming a co-sponsor of the
resolution," she said, according to PanArmenian.net. Two separate
resolutions have been presented to the US Senate and the House of
Representatives urging the administration to designate the events
as genocide. Ankara has warned that passage of the resolutions would
damage ties with US considerably.