Turkish envoy: Obama will not utter ‘genocide’ on April 24
ANKARA – Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic has said he is not expecting US President Barack Obama to label the alleged World War I-era killings of Armenians in Turkey as "genocide" in his annual address on April 24, the anniversary of the alleged mass killings.
"This is because the American president is a very smart man. Barack Obama will pay no attention to lies," Kilic told the press Friday.
He warned that by recognizing the alleged genocide, the United States would estrange Turkey. "And if the U.S. loses Turkey, it will lose Azerbaijan too. Washington should know that."
According to historians, from 1915 to 1923, Armenians had begun an uprising. They took up arms against Turkey and assisted Russia, one of Turkey’s enemies in WWI. To counter these actions, the Ottoman Empire decided to resettle the Armenians. However, the latter claim that their predecessors were subjected to genocide in the process. Turkey dismisses the claims and has repeatedly offered to research the events through a joint commission of historians.
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