U.S State Dept Spokesperson appears in awkward situation due to questions on Armenian Genocide

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. At the course of the Daily Press Briefing held at the U.S. Department of State on April 22, the journalists asked a number of questions on the April 24 address of the U.S. President Barak Obama on the Armenian Genocide and his failure to fulfill his promise again, due to which, the Acting Spokesperson Marie Harf appeared in an awkward situation. As reports “Armenrpess”, first the journalists asked: “So as is well known, when he was a candidate, the President made it a point to say that he would, while he was President, recognize that what happened in 1915 to the Armenians was, in fact – was a genocide. I realize he has one more year left in order to fulfill that pledge, but why this year, on the 100th anniversary, did he decide to once again not fulfill his pledge?

Ms Harf stated: “We know there are some who I think were hoping to hear some different language this year. We certainly understand their perspective. Even as we believe that the approach we have taken in previous years remains the right one – and again, the approach we’re taking this year – both for acknowledging the past and also for our ability to work with regional partners to save lives in the future. So this is something that we feel is important. The President has consistently stated his views about what happened in 1915 and, again, we know people wanted to hear – some people wanted to hear different language this year, and we are certainly aware of that.”

Mr. Harf’s answer didn’t satisfy the journalists, and he reformulated the question: “The issue is that when you make a specific pledge like this as a candidate and then not – then you don’t follow through on it when you are, in fact – when you are elected, it calls into question to some the commitment of other things that the President, as a candidate or even as President, has said. We’ve seen a couple times where redlines have been crossed and there hasn’t been – the response has not been what was promised. can you understand why people who – people would look at this issue on Armenia when there was a specific pledge, and then use it – use the situation to call into question when the President says that, say, Iran won’t get a bomb – won’t get the nuclear bomb – a nuclear weapon on his watch?”

In response to the question, Marie Harf noted: “Well, I certainly don’t believe that people should equate the two in any way. The President – and look, we all understand there are some who wanted to hear different language this year, and I do think we can expect that the President will issue a statement this year that marks the historical significance of the centennial, and as in past years, mourns the senseless loss of 1.5 million Armenian lives. So he will speak about this in some way, but I don’t think you should compare any of these issues.”

This answer was followed by another question saying: “So you would reject the idea that has been put out by some – the Armenian American community that the Administration is basically submitting itself to a gag order from the Turks? You would reject that?”

“I hadn’t seen that. But we make decisions on our own about what we say and how we talk about things. And I think you will hear the President speak very strongly about the historical fact that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman Empire. He has said that consistently and repeatedly, and I think you’ll hear that being said as well. We understand there are people who would like to hear some different language. We are certainly aware of that and are sensitive to it, but we think this is the best course,” Harf concluded.