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YEREVAN DENIES TELLING US TO DELAY 'GENOCIDE' RECOGNITION
Hurriyet
Oct 28 2010
Turkey
Vice President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House
in Washington on Wednesday. AP photo
A video apparently showing the U.S. vice president telling an
Armenian-American activist that the Armenian president asked the
United States to hold off recognizing the 1915 killings of Armenians as
"genocide" has stirred anger in Yerevan, reports have said.
An Armenian presidential spokesperson on Wednesday denied that such
a conversation took place between President Serge Sarkisian and U.S.
Vice President Joe Biden, urging the U.S. administration to release
the recording of the phone conversation, said the news website
Armenian Reporter.
In video footage posted on YouTube on Tuesday, Biden told an
Armenian-American activist that "the Armenian president called me and
said, 'Look, do not force this issue [the recognition of 'genocide']
now, while we [Armenia and Turkey] are in negotiations."
It appeared that Biden was unaware that his response was being
videotaped.
"We are not backing off. The Turks have to come to the realization
of what the reality is. And what we have to do is, you know, this,
the compromise that was going on and being worked at for a while,"
the U.S. vice president said in the video.
After being asked about his message to the Armenian community in the
United States, Biden said: "Tell [the Armenian community] that it was
the Armenian president that called me and said, 'Look, do not force
this issue now while we are in negotiations.'"
While the U.S. State Department has not commented on the video, the
Armenian president's spokesperson, Armen Arzumanian, said Sarkisian
had never phoned Biden.
"Two phone conversations took place on Biden's initiative in 2009
and the president of Armenia neither directly nor indirectly made the
statement ascribed to him in the video. On the contrary, in all public
speeches and official meetings, President Sarkisian attached importance
to international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide
and called on [international actors] not to justify delaying the
recognition with ongoing negotiations with Turkey," Arzumanian said.
The press secretary for the ruling Republican Party, meanwhile, said
they did not take the video seriously, called it "pure nonsense." The
Dashnaktsutyun Party, which fiercely opposed the Armenian-Turkish
normalization process, echoed the ruling party's statement.
"Biden merely understood and interpreted what he wanted to hear,
and since the president in all his speeches, including his April 21
interview to the Wall Street Journal, was not clearly emphasizing
the genocide recognition issue, it might have given a handle for such
interpretation," Giro Manoyan, Director of the party's International
Secretariat Bureau in Yerevan, told ArmeniaNow.
From: A. Papazian
Hurriyet
Oct 28 2010
Turkey
Vice President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House
in Washington on Wednesday. AP photo
A video apparently showing the U.S. vice president telling an
Armenian-American activist that the Armenian president asked the
United States to hold off recognizing the 1915 killings of Armenians as
"genocide" has stirred anger in Yerevan, reports have said.
An Armenian presidential spokesperson on Wednesday denied that such
a conversation took place between President Serge Sarkisian and U.S.
Vice President Joe Biden, urging the U.S. administration to release
the recording of the phone conversation, said the news website
Armenian Reporter.
In video footage posted on YouTube on Tuesday, Biden told an
Armenian-American activist that "the Armenian president called me and
said, 'Look, do not force this issue [the recognition of 'genocide']
now, while we [Armenia and Turkey] are in negotiations."
It appeared that Biden was unaware that his response was being
videotaped.
"We are not backing off. The Turks have to come to the realization
of what the reality is. And what we have to do is, you know, this,
the compromise that was going on and being worked at for a while,"
the U.S. vice president said in the video.
After being asked about his message to the Armenian community in the
United States, Biden said: "Tell [the Armenian community] that it was
the Armenian president that called me and said, 'Look, do not force
this issue now while we are in negotiations.'"
While the U.S. State Department has not commented on the video, the
Armenian president's spokesperson, Armen Arzumanian, said Sarkisian
had never phoned Biden.
"Two phone conversations took place on Biden's initiative in 2009
and the president of Armenia neither directly nor indirectly made the
statement ascribed to him in the video. On the contrary, in all public
speeches and official meetings, President Sarkisian attached importance
to international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide
and called on [international actors] not to justify delaying the
recognition with ongoing negotiations with Turkey," Arzumanian said.
The press secretary for the ruling Republican Party, meanwhile, said
they did not take the video seriously, called it "pure nonsense." The
Dashnaktsutyun Party, which fiercely opposed the Armenian-Turkish
normalization process, echoed the ruling party's statement.
"Biden merely understood and interpreted what he wanted to hear,
and since the president in all his speeches, including his April 21
interview to the Wall Street Journal, was not clearly emphasizing
the genocide recognition issue, it might have given a handle for such
interpretation," Giro Manoyan, Director of the party's International
Secretariat Bureau in Yerevan, told ArmeniaNow.
From: A. Papazian