BUSH USES ‘MASS KILLING AND FORCED EXILE OF AS MANY AS 1.5 MILLION OF ARMENIANS’ ‘GENOCIDE’
By Aghavni Harutyunian
AZG Armenian Daily
27/04/2006
“Today, we remember one of the horrible tragedies of the 20th century:
the mass killing and forced exile of as many as 1.5 million of
Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. This was
a tragedy for all humanity and one that we and the world must never
forget,” US President George Bush said in his annual speech on the
occasion of April 24, the day of commemoration of the victims of the
Armenian Genocide.
Though Bush didn’t use the term “genocide,” he stated about the mass
killings and the forced exile of 1,5 million of Armenians in 1915.
Praising the individuals in Armenia and Turkey who have sought to
examine the historical events with honesty and sensitivity, Bush
encouraged dialogues directed to normalized relations between Armenia
and Turkey through shared understanding of the tragic events.
“Today, we look with hope to a bright future for Armenia. Armenia’s
Millennium Challenge Compact reflects our confidence and the
importance we place in Armenia making progress on democratic reform
and advancement of free markets. We remain committed to securing a
peaceful and lasting settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and
hope the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan will take bold steps to
achieve this goal,” Bush stated.
In fact, touching upon the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, he
urges resolute steps from the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. This
factor may be imparted with great importance from the viewpoint of
USA activeness in Nagorno Karabakh issue.