April 21--REPORTING FROM WASHINGTON -- White House officials have decided that President Obama will not use the word "genocide" to describe the killings of more than 1 million Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks when he commemorates the deaths Friday, the 100th anniversary of the massacres.
The decision, revealed Tuesday in a meeting with Armenian American groups, backs down from a previous Obama pledge and sparked anger from activists.
"The president's surrender represents a national disgrace," said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America. "It is a betrayal of the truth, and it is a betrayal of trust."
White House officials defended the decision as necessary to preserve the chance of cooperation with Turkey, a NATO ally, on Middle Eastern conflicts.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who has led efforts in Congress to recognize the genocide, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the decision.
"How long must the victims and their families wait before our nation has the courage to confront Turkey with the truth about the murderous past of the Ottoman Empire? If not this president, who spoke so eloquently and passionately about recognition in the past, whom? If not after 100 years, when?" he said in a statement.
White House officials released a statement that did not use the word "genocide" after the meeting with Armenian American groups. The statement from National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said the U.S. would use the anniversary of the massacres to "urge a full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts that we believe is in the interest of all parties."
A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the White House expects Obama will mark "the historical significance" of the "Meds Yeghern," as the massacres are known in Armenian.
"We know and respect that there are some who are hoping to hear different language this year. We understand their perspective," the official said.
But, the official added, "the approach we have taken in previous years remains the right one -- both for acknowledging the past, and for our ability to work with regional partners to save lives in the present," a reference to U.S. hopes for cooperation from Turkey, particularly in the civil war in Syria.
Hamparian said he and other Armenian American leaders learned the news at the White House meeting, which was attended by Denis McDonough, Obama's chief of staff, and Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor.
During the meeting, which lasted just short of an hour, he said, the group was told that the U.S. would send a delegation to Armenia this week, led by Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.
Whether to use the word "genocide" to describe the killings has been a fraught political issue for years. U.S. administrations of both parties have resisted using it out of deference to Turkey, whose government has consistently rejected the label of genocide and has spent millions of dollars lobbying U.S. officials on the issue.
But activists had hoped Obama would break with the past this year, particularly after Pope Francis referred to genocide in a statement just over a week ago.
Obama, as a senator and a candidate for president, supported using the term to describe the killings committed during the political upheaval surrounding World War I.
UPDATE
3:12 p.m: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of the Armenian term Meds Yeghern.
2:32 p.m: This article has been updated with a statement from Rep. Adam B. Schiff.
2:06 p.m. This article has been updated with a statement from the White House.
1:42 p.m.: This article has been updated to add additional information about the president's decision and the discussions leading up to it.
It was originally published at 1:19 p.m.
