President Barack Obama and the Armenians Remembrance Day

Barack Obama Statements

"Just as the terrible events of 1915 remind us of the dark prospect of man’s inhumanity to man, reckoning with the past holds out the powerful promise of reconciliation," Obama said in a statement issued by the White House on Friday afternoon. "I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed. My interest remains the achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts."

"I strongly support efforts by the Turkish and Armenian people to work through this painful history in a way that is honest, open and constructive," Obama said. "To that end, there has been courageous and important dialogue among Armenians and Turks, and within Turkey itself."

Obama said he stood with the diaspora "and with Armenians everywhere with a sense of friendship, solidarity and deep respect."

Before the statement had even been issued, Turkish President Abdullah Gul hinted that he knew Obama would avoid the contentious term, telling reporters Friday that Obama had left his early-April Turkey visit "now better informed."

Obama had promised early in his presidential campaign that he would call the mass killings genocide if elected. "The facts are undeniable," Obama said in a Jan. 19, 2008, statement. "An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as president I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."

It should not be forgotten that that the Ottoman empire at that time was in the danger of disappearance from the world map. Greece would have carved big chunk in the western part, so Bulgaria will absorb part and of course Russia. The Armenians joined the Russian armies in the east to wage war against what is now Turkey.
No one should pretend to be innocent.