WASHINGTON (AP) – Has the Obama administration quietly recognized the World War I-era killing of Armenians as genocide?
The term has long been taboo for U.S. officials, including President Barack Obama, who have instead talked of mass atrocity and historical tragedy. But Obama’s U.N. ambassador last week described the event as genocide.
In a speech giving tribute to Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, Samantha Power lamented the world’s injustices to this day. Among these, she listed: “Genocide denial against the Armenians.”
Those five words risk infuriating Turkey, which has fiercely opposed any genocide reference and whose strategic role as an American partner in an unstable part of the world has led U.S. officials to exercise extreme caution when referencing the massacre.
Power’s spokesman said the comment does not reflect a change in administration policy.