Source: KPCC AirTalk
Friday marks the 100th anniversary of the mass killing of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, but President Obama won’t be using the term ‘genocide’ to describe them.
The White House broke the news Tuesday in meetings with Armenian American groups, contradicting a promise then-Senator Obama made while campaigning for president in 2008 to “recognize the Armenian Genocide.”
Maybe nowhere in the U.S. does this news hit harder than in Los Angeles, which is home to the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia or Russia. The White House says the decision was made in order to keep relations with Turkey, a NATO ally, stable in the hopes of cooperation on Middle Eastern conflicts.
Did the White House make the right decision, politically, in not using the word ‘genocide?’ What would the impact be on U.S.-Turkish relations if he did? What does this decision mean for U.S. foreign policy?