White House omits 'G-word' - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Barbara Slavin

Barbara Slavin

Apr 23, 2015

U.S. President Barack Obama pauses during remarks at a reception for supporters of H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington April 21, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTX19Q1Z — US President Barack Obama pauses during remarks at a reception at the White House's Rose Garden in Washington, April 21, 2015. — REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

عربي

WASHINGTON — Once again, the Obama administration has shied-away from using the word genocide to describe what befell Armenians in Turkey 100 years ago.

Despite Obama’s pledges as a presidential candidate to use this term, his White House — like those before it — appears reluctant to offend a NATO ally on the front lines of so many conflicts in the Middle East.

Activists hold pictures of Armenian victims during a demonstration to commemorate the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, in Istanbul April 24, 2014. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan offered on Wednesday what the government said were unprecedented condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians killed in World War One by Ottoman soldiers. In a statement issued on the eve of the 99th anniversary of the deeply contested deaths, Erdogan unexpectedly described the events of 1915 as "inhuman

Armenians dig out their Ottoman land deeds

Tulay Cetingulec

Tulay Cetingulec

The Yerablur cemetery, where Armenian soldiers from both Karabakh wars are buried, overlooks Yerevan in this photo taken April 12, 2022.

Regional View

As Armenia pushes for reconciliation, Turkey plays hard to get

Human rights activists hold portraits of victims during a demonstration to commemorate the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, at Sultanahmet square in Istanbul, Turkey April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTS13OEL

Erdogan offers 'condolences' during Armenian genocide events

Amberin Zaman

Amberin Zaman

In London, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

A woman holds a candle during a religious service marking the anniversary of mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Empire in 1915 at an Armenian church in Tbilisi April 24 2012. Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says about 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government. Successive Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the charge of genocide is an insult to

Turkey’s Armenian syndrome

Fehim Tastekin

Fehim Tastekin

In Paris, reporting on Turkish politics