Acknowledgment of Genocide is in US interests – Department of State

A US Department of State official has reiterated the country’s position on the Armenian Genocide, saying that the administration repeatedly acknowledged the historical fact of the tragic crime.

“The President and other senior Administration officials have repeatedly acknowledged as historical fact and mourned the fact that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman Empire, and stated that a full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts is in all our interests, including Turkey’s, Armenia’s, and America’s,” the acting spokesperson, Marie Harf, said at the daily press briefing on Tuesday.

She made the remark when asked to comment on Pope Francis’s statement characterizing the massacres as the first Genocide of the 20th century.

“One of the principles, I think, that’s guided the Administration’s work in this area and in atrocity prevention more broadly is that nations are stronger and they progress by acknowledging and reckoning with pretty painful elements of their past; doing so is really essential to building a different, more tolerant future. And I think that sort of guides how we look at this and other issues,” Ms Harf added.

Asked about US efforts to call for public acknowledgement by Turkey, the acting spokesperson refrained from any comments. “Nothing more than I just said,” she replied.

Neither did the US official give any comments on Turkey’s reaction to the Pope’s address  delivered at the Armenian Genocide centennial Mass in Vatican (particularly President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement condemning the move  and the Turkish authorities’ decision to recall their ambassador from Vatican).

Asked what she thinks about Barack Obama’s position on the Armenian Genocide issue and whether the President might have revised his position (by avoiding to use ‘genocide’ in his annual April 24 address) considering Turkey’s status as a NATO ally, Ms Harf recommended referring to his 2008 presidential campaign without giving further comments. "I’m happy for you to check with the 2008 Barack Obama campaign, Matt. I don’t speak for them. I speak for the State Department and the Administration,” she said.