Zaman, Turkey
April 26 2005

Bush Supports Turkey’s Offer for Joint Commission on Armenian Issue
By Foreign News Desk
Published: Tuesday 26, 2005
zaman.com

US President George W. Bush did not mention the word “genocide” when
referring to the incidents that occurred in 1915 in his statement
issued on April 24 for the commemorations of the so-called Armenian
genocide.

Furthermore, he referred to the report by the International Center
for Transitional Justice (ICJ) that defined incidents that took place
on Ottoman territories about Armenians, as genocide. Referring to
Turkey’s recent offer to form a joint commission to investigate the
Armenian allegations in the statement, Bush added, “We hope that the
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will help the process by
forming a joint Turkish-Armenian commission.” Erdogan recently
offered to form a joint commission to address the incidents that
occurred in 1915 to the Armenian President Robert Kocharian; however,
Yerevan has not yet sent an affirmative response.

While the Armenian lobby in Washington reacted harshly against Bush
for not using the word of “genocide” in his speech, Ankara viewed the
statement “positively”. Diplomatic sources say: “There was
significant pressure on the US administration due to the 90th
anniversary of the so-called Armenian genocide allegations. The
Jewish lobby that was traditionally Turkey’s partner had taken
offence with Ankara” and added that not expressing the word
“genocide” showed the strength of Turkish-US relations. Bush
determined in his announcement that 1.5 million Armenians who had
been forcibly expelled and killed in masses during the last days of
the Ottoman Empire and that they are remembered on the Armenian
Commemoration Day. Most of Armenians define the horrible incident as
huge disaster and he sympathizes with all Armenians in the US and
around the world over their loses and he expressed his condolences.
Revealing that they were looking towards the future of the
independent Armenian state while commemorating the 90th anniversary
of the human tragedy, which reflected the pain of Armenian society,
Bush also called on the Armenian administration to extend democratic
freedoms that will allow the realization of the ideals of their
society.