US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN761

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000761 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/PPD, EUR/CACEN, EUR, EUR/ACE, 
EUR/SNEC, EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958; N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KMDR, OPRC, PREL, TU, AM 
SUBJECT: ARMENIA PRESS REACTION: WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT 
ON "ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE DAY" 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  As they did last year, the Armenian media expressed 
disappointment that President Bush did not use the term 
"genocide" in his April 24 "Armenian Remembrance Day" 
statement.  Several newspapers focused on the 
President's "failure, once again" to honor an alleged 
promise made while campaigning in 2000 to "properly 
characterize the genocidal campaign against the 
Armenian people."  Though the text of the President's 
statement appeared in all newspapers, opposition 
dailies led with regard to editorial comment.  Only one 
prominent pro-government paper, controlled by the main 
nationalist party, offered an opinion, which came in 
the form of quotes from the head of the party's 
Armenian-American Diaspora arm.  Despite the 
understandable emotionalism surrounding the 90th 
Anniversary of the 1915 events, reaction to the U.S. 
statement was not extreme by local standards.  End 
Summary. 
 
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"[THEY] DIDN'T SAY IT AGAIN" 
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2.  HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK, a popular opposition newspaper, 
summed up media coverage of President Bush's April 24 
statement on "Armenian Remembrance Day," in which he 
did not characterize the events of 1915-1918 as 
"genocide," with the April 26 front-page title, "[They] 
Didn't Say It Again."  [Note:  Newspapers are not 
published on Mondays in Armenia.  There was no print 
coverage on April 25.] 
 
3.  A1-Plus, a pro-western opposition paper, wrote 
April 26, "The President again resorted to the use of 
evasive and euphemistic terminology to obscure the 
reality of Turkey's genocide against the Armenian 
people." 
 
4.  ARAVOT, another opposition newspaper, published an 
article titled, "They're Not Afraid of Hurting Our 
Feelings," on April 26.  The author reflects on the 
lack of the word "genocide" in the President's 
statement, saying, "Maybe [U.S. Presidents] want to 
recognize it but they can't.  There is something very 
important that hinders [them] from keeping their 
promises when the time for recognizing genocide 
comes...Recognition of the Armenian genocide is not in 
the U.S.'s interests yet, in spite of the influential 
Armenian community in the U.S." 
 
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"BUSH BREAKS HIS PROMISE" 
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5.  YERKIR, a newspaper run by the Armenian 
Revolutionary Faction Dashnak [part of the governing 
coalition,] joined opposition newspapers ARAVOT, 
IRAVUNK, and A1-Plus, in expressing disappointment at 
what they characterize as a broken campaign promise to 
"American-Armenians."  On April 26, YERKIR, the only 
pro-government paper that has to date commented on the 
statement, reported, "In February of 2000, then 
presidential candidate George W. Bush, campaigning for 
votes among Armenian voters in the Michigan Republican 
primary, pledged to properly characterize the genocidal 
campaign against the Armenian people."  The article 
continues, "In retreating from his promise, the 
President ignored the counsel of one-hundred and 
seventy-eight Representatives and thirty-two Senators." 
 
6.  IRAVUNK comments, "President Bush again did not use 
the word 'genocide'...but for Bush's promise to the 
American-Armenians during his campaign, this would not 
be a surprise.  It comes out that the leader of a 
superpower like the U.S. can win votes by giving false 
promises and then breaking them." 
 
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DIASPORA DASHNAK VOICE IN LOCAL PRESS 
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7.  ARF Dashnak affiliated YERKIR, closely linked to 
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), 
widely quoted ANCA's Armenian-American Executive 
Director, Aram Hamparian, who said, "This statement, 
sadly, once again, represents a form of complicity in 
the Turkish government's shameful campaign to deny a 
crime against humanity."  Hamparian goes on to state, 
"The Administration's refusal to recognize the Armenian 
Genocide reflects a broader unwillingness to confront 
genocide - as evidenced by [its] failure to take 
decisive steps in Darfur." 
EVANS