Turkey Content as U.S. to Avoid Calling Armenian Killings 'Genocide'
Turkish leaders on Wednesday expressed satisfaction that the United States appeared to be holding off from describing the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, ahead of the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.
One of Turkey's worst nightmares is that President Barack Obama would acknowledge the killings as a genocide on the April 24 anniversary but comments by U.S. officials have indicated that this will not be the case.
"I wouldn't want to hear Obama say something like this. I didn't expect it anyway. For Turkey, where the U.S. stands is very clear," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Ankara.
"We have talked about this issue a lot (with Obama) and said that it should be left to the historians, not the politicians."
Armenians believe 1.5 million of their ancestors were killed in a campaign of genocide ordered by the Ottoman security leadership and intended to wipe them out of Anatolia, in what is now eastern Turkey.
Turkey, while saying it shared the pain of Armenians over the World War I events, has always vehemently rejected use of the term genocide and contends that hundreds of thousands were killed on both sides.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu added: "In the light of his experience as U.S. president, I am hoping that Mr Obama will not make a statement that will offend Turkey."
Davutoglu also said he had spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel by telephone and urged her "to take the initiative" and persuade the German parliament not to recognize the killings as genocide in a vote on April 24.
Turkey will mark the 100th anniversary of the World War I battle of Gallipoli on April 24-25 in a major event with dozens of world leaders in attendance.
Erdogan said Armenia "will not be on the agenda" during those ceremonies, which Yerevan has accused Ankara of deliberately bringing forward by one day to overshadow its commemorations of the killings.
"They will talk and talk and insult Turkey," he said of the planned April 24 commemorations in Yerevan.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes avoided using the word genocide when hosting Armenian American leaders at the White House to discuss the centennial.
McDonough and Rhodes "discussed the significance of this occasion for honoring the 1.5 million lives extinguished during that horrific period," the council said in a statement.
Source: Agence France Presse
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