Obama Commemorates Armenian Gneocide

April 24, 2008
On April 28, Democratic Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama made a statement commemorating the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Below is the text of the statement entered into the Congressional Record.

Mr. President, last week, we paused in remembrance of the Armenian genocide, which was carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. Nearly 2 million Armenians were deported, and approximately 1.5 million of those deported were killed.

It is imperative that we recognize the horrific acts carried out against the Armenian people as genocide and I will continue to stand with the Armenian American community in calling for the Government of Turkey to acknowledge it as such. The occurrence of the Armenian genocide is a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming collection of historical evidence.

I was deeply disturbed 2 years ago when the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia was fired after he used the term "genocide"' to describe the mass slaughter of Armenians. I called for Secretary Rice to closely examine what I believe is an untenable position taken by the U.S. Government.

I will continue to push for the acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide , and I offer the Armenian people my condolences.

Barack Obama