WASHINGTON. - Acknowledgement of the facts is in the  interest of everybody, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest when asked whether President Obama intends to use the word "genocide" as Armenians mark the anniversary of the event this month, NEWS.am correspondent reports from D.C.

"I can tell you that the president and other senior administration officials have repeatedly acknowledged as historical fact that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman empire.  We've further stated that we mourn those deaths and that a full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts is in the  interest of everybody, including Turkey, Armenia, and the United States," Earnest said.

According to him, this has been the U.S. Administration policy, position and approach to this issue for a number of years now.

"It is customary for the president to issue a statement on the this situation, on this terrible historical event later in the month of April and I wouldn't anticipate any updates on our policy until then," he concluded.