ArmInfo. Assistants of former US President Barack Obama Ben Rhodes and Samantha Power apologized for not recognizing the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, Politico reports.
"It was a mistake, we had to recognize the Armenian Genocide," said Rhodes, who served as deputy national security adviser to the Obama administration. According to him, the administration was too worried about not insulting Turkey. "I apologize," said Samantha Power. Former US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, expressed regret that the US authorities did not recognize the Armenian Genocide in the eight years of Barack Obama's presidency."I'm sorry that we have disappointed so many American Armenians," she said.
As a presidential candidate in 2008, Obama promised that he would officially recognize the Armenian Genocide as a historical fact. Nevertheless, during his tenure as president, he never uttered the word "genocide". US President Barack Obama also avoided the word "genocide" during his statement on the 100th anniversary of the massacres of Armenians. Obama used the wording "Metz Egern" (the great massacre Ed.). At the same time, he said that he honored the memory of the victims of this tragedy, and considers it necessary to learn from history so as to prevent the recurrence of such events from now on.