Washington Disowns Genocide Recognition

RFE/RL continues to cover the continuing fiasco regarding US Ambassador John Evan's recent comments recognizing the massacre and deportation of the Armenian population living in Ottoman Turkey as Genocide.

In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL, a senior official in the administration of President George W. Bush said it did not approve, authorize or have prior knowledge of Ambassador John Evans's description of the mass killings and deportations of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as "the first genocide of the 20th century."

Yet, even so, it seems incredible that an Ambassador with such a long and experienced history working for the State Department could have made such a diplomatic blunder, perhaps lending credibility to the suggestion that this wasn't as much of a mistake or accident as is now being suggested.

Interestingly, according to his official biography, Evans studied Ottoman history and is not new to Armenia having served as the Deputy Director of the Soviet Desk for three years. He apparently coordinated US relief efforts at the time of the earthquake in 1988 and so, understands the sensitivity of the issue very well.

However, many in Armenia and its influential Diaspora in the United States believe that the very fact of a high-ranking American diplomatic affirming the genocide was hardly accidental.

"Nobody should think this has occurred by accident or in a vacuum," one informed source insisted on Wednesday.

The full article can be read online here.

Posted by Onnik on March 03, 2005 | TrackBack | Email to a friend