Armenian foreign minister wants Obama to acknowledge massacre as genocide

A top Armenian official told a National Press Club Newsmaker on May 7 that candidate Barack Obama had called the Armenian massacre a genocide and that he wishes President Obama would do so now.

"Of course, we prefer and expect President Obama will use the 'G' word," Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said. "At the same time we're taking note that as a candidate for president of the United States, President Obama recognized the Armenian genocide and as president he has said and repeated his stance and his views."

Obama has been reluctant to use the term genocide, presumably not to upset Turkey, site of the massacre.

When asked if he planned to visit the White House on this trip, Nalbandian said only that his visit was "not bilateral." It was announced, however, that Vice President Joe Biden planned to attend an ecumenical service at National Cathedral.

Nalbandian was in Washington as part of a three-day commemoration marking the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. At the news conference, chaired by Newsmaker co-chair Jamie Horwitz, a huge poster hung near the speakers saying that "the historians have already spoken" on the authenticity of the genocide.

In April 1915, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed, leaving fewer than 400,00 Armenian survivors. Ottoman Turks had gone into World War I on the side of the Germans and blamed the minority Armenians for supporting Russia.

In a reprise years later, the New York Times said that at the time the Armenians, many of whom were merchants and industrialists, "appeared markedly better off" than the Turks, many of whom were peasants or ill-paid government functionaries.

"We feel a kinship with those facing similar experiences," Nalbandian said, citing Cambodia, Rwanda and Darfur among others.

Nalbandian said that "more and more" of the international community recognizes the Armenian genocide, and "we expect this from Turkey."

Armenia has never made territorial claims an issue in negotiatons although Turkey has, he said.

When asked about the plight of Armenians in Syrica, Nalbandian called it "a very difficult situation" and said there is "a huge danger" for Christians in the Middle East.