The White House pulled together Armenian leaders Tuesday to placate the community in advance of their latest ball-dropping on President Obama’s 2008 campaign promise to recognize the Armenian genocide.
But activists who have long been asking Obama to keep his word were not placated.
Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes confirmed to Armenian-American leaders that Obama will once again not recognize the genocide in his annual statement for this week’s genocide remembrance day.
“President Obama’s surrender to Turkey represents a national disgrace. It is, very simply, a betrayal of truth, a betrayal of trust,” said Armenian National Committee of America chairman Ken Hachikian.
“With the world’s attention drawn this April 24th to worldwide Armenian Genocide Centennial commemorations, President Obama will, tragically, use the moral standing of our nation not to defend the truth, but rather to enforce of a foreign power’s gag-rule,” Hachikian added. “He has effectively outsourced America’s policy on the Armenian Genocide to Recep Erdogan.”
The other group in the room with McDonough and Rhodes was the Armenian Assembly of America. Executive Director Bryan Ardouny said in a statement afterward that Obama’s “unwillingness to speak truthfully about the Armenian Genocide is not what we expect from a world leader on the centenary of the Armenian Genocide.”
“His failure to use the term genocide represents a major blow for human rights advocates and sets the clock back on genocide prevention.”
In a readout of the White House meeting, National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said, “Recalling the deep ties between the Armenian and American peoples, they discussed the significance of this occasion for honoring the 1.5 million lives extinguished during that horrific period, and welcomed the principled advocacy of the Armenian American community on behalf of justice.”
“They pledged that the United States will use the occasion to urge a full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts that we believe is in the interest of all parties,” Meehan said. “They also noted that the President has asked Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew to lead a Presidential Delegation to Yerevan on April 24, to stand in solidarity with the Armenian people as they commemorate this most solemn of anniversaries.”
Obama has been called out by Armenian groups every year of his presidency for not using the G-word.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) introduced a resolution Monday commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
“It is past time for this atrocity to be recognized for what it was: a targeted ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population. This resolution makes clear that it is unacceptable to deny the facts and history of the Armenian Genocide and continue to silence the voices of those who perished,” Menendez said. “As the world gathers to commemorate the centenary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24th, the United States must commit itself to recognizing the full meaning, magnitude and history of this genocide in order to both honor the innocent victims and prevent similar tragedies from happening again.”
“More than 20 countries, 43 U.S. states and Pope Francis have unequivocally affirmed the Armenian Genocide and it is time for the United States to join them,” Boxer said.
Kirk stressed that “100 years is far too long not to call the murder of 1.5 million Armenians what it was: genocide.”
Turkey has paid D.C. lobbyists handsomely over the years to work against the Armenian Genocide resolutions that surface each Congress. Turkey has recalled its ambassador in a huff whenever the bill has made it out of committee.
A large Turkey caucus in Congress — the Caucus on U.S.-Turkey Relations & Turkish Americans — also helps derail genocide legislation.
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