White House spokesperson avoids commenting Armenian GenocideApril 5, 2009 - 00:16 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Ahead of President Barack Obama's trip to Turkey, at a news briefing the White House spokesperson avoided discussing the Armenian Genocide when asked by a reporter to comment on the matter.Responding to a reporter's query on whether "the President still believe that the Turks committed genocide against the Armenians," White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs, said: "We'll get into that I think later on." When pressed to comment further, Gibbs said: "I'll leave that for--I can't give away everything in one gaggle, for goodness sakes." Gibbs explained the trip to Turkey aimed to strengthen an important relationship. "I mean, again, I think it's to strengthen an important relationship and reach out to--and demonstrate the importance of--their importance in our relationship and, again, issues that we have in common that we want to work on. I mean, look, I think it's an opportunity to probably go also to a country that people may not have expected us to visit on our first trip over here, and I think it's an important signal for the President," explained Gibbs, Asbarez.com reports. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Power of One Dram sums up two-year program with Teach for Armenia Idram Junior also joined the companies during the visit, bringing with it a fascinating intellectual game for children Moscow slams EU mission in Armenia for “provocative activity” The EU mission is doing more and more against Armenia’s neighbors Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, Mikhail Galuzin said. Yerevan Mayor to travel to Paris on May 15-19 The official delegation headed by Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan will travel to Paris from May 15 to 19. Armenia, India hold first defense consultations The meeting was attended by Indian Ambassador Nilakshi Saha Sinha and Defense Attaché Brigadier General Naveen Nijhawan. |