Agence France Presse — English
April 24, 2005 Sunday 10:15 PM GMT

Bush marks 90th anniversary of Armenian massacre

CRAWFORD, Texas

US President George W. Bush on Sunday expressed sorrow on the 90th
anniversary of the forced exile and mass killings of as many as 1.5
million Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

“I join my fellow Americans and Armenian people around the world in
expressing my deepest condolences for this horrible loss of life,”
Bush said in a statement that stopped short of calling the killings
genocide.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen perished in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was
falling apart. Ankara counters that 300,000 Armenians and thousands
of Turks were killed in “civil strife” during World War I.

Bush said the anniversary was also an opportunity to “look toward a
promising future for an independent Armenian state,” and thanked
Armenia for helping to fight global terrorism and to build a
democratic Iraq.

He also said he hoped for “a lasting and peaceful settlement” to the
dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh
enclave and said the United States seeks “a deeper partnership” with
Armenia.

“We remain committed to supporting the historic reforms Armenia has
pursued for over a decade. We call on the Government of Armenia to
advance democratic freedoms that will further advance the aspirations
of the Armenian people,” he added.