BUSH OBJECTS TO TERM GENOCIDE FOR WWI ARMENIAN DEATHS

Radio New Zealand
Oct 11 2007
New Zealand

US President George Bush says a move by Congress to label the
massacres of Armenians during World War I as "genocide" could damage
ties with Turkey.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the resolution
could damage efforts to secure peace in the Middle East.

Turkey has always fiercely rejected claims by Armenians that up to
1.5 million people died during systematic deportations and killings
between 1915 and 1918 as the Ottoman Empire broke up.

Turkey has warned that if the resolution is passed it could bar the
United States from a key military base in its south.

About 70% of all US air cargo to Iraq goes through Turkey.

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee is to vote on
the measure shortly.