24.4.17

President Donald Trump's Statement on April 24: Uncovering the Source

"Armeniaca"
On April 24, 2017, the White House issued President Donald Trump’s statement on "Armenian Remembrance Day 2017," which followed the tradition and avoided using the term "genocide" to describe the events of 1915.
Most of the statement also followed, whether paraphrasing or literally, the 2009-2016 statements of President Obama. The annotated text of the statement (italics added) is presented below:

“Today, we remember and honor the memory of those who suffered during the Meds Yeghern (*), one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century (**).  Beginning in 1915, (***) one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire (****).  I join the Armenian community in America and around the world in mourning the loss of innocent lives and the suffering endured by so many.”
As we reflect on this dark chapter of human history,(*****) we also recognize the resilience of the Armenian people.  Many built new lives in the United States and made indelible contributions to our country, while cherishing memories of the historic homeland in which their ancestors established one of the great civilizations of antiquity.”
We must remember atrocities to prevent them from occurring again.(******)  We welcome the efforts of Turks and Armenians to acknowledge and reckon with painful history, which is a critical step toward building a foundation for a more just and tolerant future.” (*******)


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(*) Barack Obama, from April 2009 to April 2016: "Meds Yeghern."
(**) Barack Obama, April 2009:  "one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century." Barack Obama, April 2015: "the first mass atrocity of the 20th Century."
(***)  Barack Obama, April 2015: "Beginning in 1915."
(****) Barack Obama, April 2016: "one and a half million Armenian people were deported, massacred, and marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman empire." 
(*****) Barack Obama, April 2011: "such dark chapters of history"
(*******) Barack Obama, April 2014: "such atrocities must always be remembered if we are to prevent them from occurring ever again"
(*******) Barack Obama, April 2013: "Nations grow stronger by acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past, thereby building a foundation for a more just and tolerant future."

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