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ANKARA: Bush Supports Turkey Offer for Jt Commish on Armenian Issue

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  • ANKARA: Bush Supports Turkey Offer for Jt Commish on Armenian Issue

    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.
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