An Armenian lobbying group criticized Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton for visiting the Armenian Genocide Memorial in
“secrecy.”

Clinton visited the memorial in Yerevan, Armenia, during a trip
through the Caucasus region. No remarks from her visit were released
by the State Department.

“As we stated several times in our public comments in the days leading
up to Secretary Clinton’s travel to Armenia, her visit to the Armenian
Genocide Memorial will hold profound meaning for Armenian Americans to
the extent that it marks a real break from the Obama Administration’s
morally bankrupt policy of complicity in Turkey’s campaign of genocide
denial,” Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director
Aram Hamparian said in a statement.

“Given the secrecy surrounding this visit, and the absence of any
publicly released remarks – much less a full and formal statement
recognizing the Armenian Genocide by the Secretary – it would seem at
this point, sadly, that this visit, while holding certain special
importance in its own right – does not represent material movement
toward proper U.S. condemnation and commemoration of this crime. This
visit truly was a missed opportunity for the Secretary and for
America.”

Legislation to describe the killings of 1.5 million Armenians at the
hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as “genocide” has stalled many
times in Congress out of concerns that relations with Turkey could be
damaged.

The administration has treaded carefully on the subject. Two
anniversaries have passed since Barack Obama became president and each
time he has not used the word “genocide” in recognition of the date,
as he promised he would on the campaign trail.

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