Armen Martirosyan: we did not expect US President Obama to use Genocide term

April 25, 2010 - 00:11 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - We did not expect US President Obama to use Genocide term in his annual April 24 address, Heritage chairman Armen Martirosyan stated.

As he told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, Obama refrained from using the term Genocide so as not to harm Armenia-Turkey rapprochement process. “On the other hand, the address is demonstrative of US attitude to history, their archives containing numerous materials proving the fact of Armenian Genocide,” he noted.

“Turkey will continue to hamper international recognition of Genocide until Armenia withdraws from rapprochement process,” Armenian politician believes.

In his annual address to US Armenian community President Obama once again termed the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire as Mets Yeghern.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.