No: 98, 22 April 2016

U.S.President Obama’sstatement on 22 April 2016 isyetanother example of theassessments onthesufferings enduredunder the circumstancesoftheFirst World War on the basis of a one-sided narrative.

Turkeydemonstratesasincere desireto establish a commonfuture in peacebetween the Turkish and Armenian people based ontheircenturies-long experienceofco-existence.It is saddeningthat friendly and allied countries, rather than supporting this call,prefer toencourage those who advocatethedeepeningofthe confrontation.

Itis a fact thatefforts toexploit the sufferings of the past forpoliticalmanipulationhave not brought any benefitto any oneso far.

Thisbeing the case, thosewho seekto drawadvantage fromthepolitical stancestaken bythird countriesevery year at certain dates,not onlyharmthe prospects of peace and friendship but also show disrespect to the common painof that period.

In this context, we call upon the U.S. Administration to adopt an objective, prudent and constructive approach, which takes the sufferings of all sides into consideration, by evaluating the historical realities on the basis of a just memory.