Monday, April 6, 2009
White House Avoids Genocide Issue Ahead of Turkey Trip
PARIS (The White House)--Ahead of President Barack Obama's trip to Turkey, at a news briefing Friday aboard Air Force One en route to France, the White House spokesperson avoided discussing the Armenian Genocide when asked by a reporter to comment on the matter.
Responding to a reporter's query on whether the President still believe[s] that the Turks committed genocide against the Armenians, White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs, said: We'll get into that I think later on.
When pressed to comment further, Gibbs said: I'll leave that for--I can't give away everything in one gaggle, for goodness sakes.
Gibbs explained the trip to Turkey aimed to strengthen an important relationship.
I mean, again, I think it's to strengthen an important relationship and reach out to--and demonstrate the importance of--their importance in our relationship and, again, issues that we have in common that we want to work on. I mean, look, I think it's an opportunity to probably go also to a country that people may not have expected us to visit on our first trip over here, and I think it's an important signal for the President, explained Gibb.
Friday, April 3, 2009
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