BUSH SAYS WORLD MUST NOT FORGET, AVOIDS USING PROPER TERM OF GENOCIDE IN ANNUAL APRIL 24 STATEMENT

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006

WASHINGTON, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. In his annual
April 24th commemoration statement, President Bush described the
“mass killings” and “exile” of 1.5 million Armenians noting that
this was a “tragedy for all humanity and one that we and the world
must never forget.” The statement was delivered following strongly
worded letters from more than 200 House and Senate leaders last week,
asking the President to properly acknowledge the genocide in his annual
statement. “While the President once again employed the dictionary
definition of Genocide, we are deeply disappointed that he did not
properly characterize the attempted annihilation of our people as
genocide,” said the Armenian Assembly of America Board of Trustees
Chairman Hirair Hovnanian. “The President had an opportunity to build
on his 2000 campaign statement as well as the words of President Ronald
Reagan who properly acknowledged the Armenian Genocide,” Hovnanian
continued. “Today, as we mark the 91st anniversary of these crimes,
genocide deniers continue their morally bankrupt campaign against
the truth as evidenced by the recent federal lawsuit initiated in the
state of Massachusetts,” said AAA Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. “In
the face of this ongoing denial, the United States must make a firm
stand for the truth,” Ardouny continued. Bush’s statement, as in years
past, encourages dialogue between Turks and Armenians and states that
“The analysis by the International Center for Transitional Justice
(ICTJ), while not the final word, has made a significant contribution
toward deepening our understanding of these Events.” The ICTJ report,
issued in 2003, reached the conclusion that: “The Events, viewed
collectively, can thus be said to include all of the elements of the
crime of genocide as defined in the Convention, and legal scholars as
well as historians, politicians, journalists and other people would
be justified in continuing to so describe them.” The President’s
reference to ICTJ serves as an implicit acknowledgment of the Armenian
Genocide. The Administration has clarified its policy on the crime
of genocide and recently stated its views on the need to prevent
its repetition. The President’s National Security Strategy (NSS),
which was released last month, notes that “the world needs to start
honoring a principle that many believe has lost its force in parts
of the international community in recent years: genocide must not be
tolerated. It is a moral imperative that states take action to prevent
and punish genocide. History teaches that sometimes other states will
not act unless America does it part.” “America did act in response to
the first genocide of the twentieth century and Armenian-Americans
are forever grateful for the leading role of the United States in
attempting to stop the Armenian Genocide and for aiding those who
survived,” Hovnanian added. “It is now time for the U.S. to continue
this proud chapter of American history and formally and irrevocably
reaffirm the Armenian Genocide,” he continued. “By so doing, the
U.S. will articulate the same message it has already sent to the
public – that genocide must not be tolerated.”