Turkey regrets Obama’s statement on alleged "Armenian genocide"
Turkey considers U.S. President Barack Obama's statement on the so-called "Armenian genocide" regrettable and distortion of historical facts, Turkish Foreign Ministry's statement posted on its website says.
"Obama's statement is a support to the Armenian side's point of view in the issue, which is painful for both Turkey and Armenia," the statement says.
It is also noted that such statements from Washington are an obstacle to clarify the 1915 events.
On Wednesday, Barack Obama once again did not pronounce the word "genocide" in the traditional statement in connection with the 1915 events in the Ottoman Empire, but called it a great tragedy.
"Our duty is to preserve the memory of the victims and prevent repeating of these dark pages of history," Obama said.
Every year Armenia marks the anniversary of the so called "Armenian genocide" on April 24.
Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey's predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, committed genocide in 1915 against Armenians living in Anadolu. Their efforts have achieved the recognition of the 'Armenian Genocide' by the parliaments of several countries.