Barack Obama
President Barack Obama calls it "one of the worst atrocities" of the 20th century.
President Barack Obama calls it "one of the worst atrocities" of the 20th century - the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, AP reports.
Saturday marks the 95th anniversary of the start of the slaughter in 1915, and Obama is taking time to remember "this solemn day."
A White House statement issued while Obama spends the weekend in Asheville, N.C., calls the killings "a devastating chapter" in Armenian history.
A deal between Turkey and Armenia to establish diplomatic ties and reopen their border collapsed on Thursday when Armenia suspended ratification over Turkish demands that it first make peace with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The president said the 1915 massacre must not be repeated, but carefully avoided getting entangled in the debate over whether Turkey was responsible for genocide against the Armenians, Reuters reports.
Obama said that he is "encouraged by the dialogue among Turks and Armenians, and within Turkey itself, regarding this painful history."
The Associated Press, Reuters
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