President Bush marks remembrance of WWI-era Armenian killings
April 24, 2007
IHT
The Associated PressPublished
WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush issued a statement of remembrance Tuesday for the estimated 1.5 million Armenians killed at the end of the Ottoman empire but stopped short of using the word genocide.
The wording followed long standing U.S. policy on the politically fraught word. The statement comes as Turkish and Armenian interest groups wrangle over a proposed congressional resolution calling for recognition of the World War I-era killings as genocide.
Also on Tuesday, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, who reportedly had his tour of duty cut short because, in a social setting, he referred to the killings as genocide, said that Turks need to confront the facts of the killings and to show contrition before there can be reconciliation.
"I think there can't be reconciliation before there is truth telling," he said.
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey however denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated, and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.
The issue is highly charged in both Turkey and Armenia. Turkish officials have said that passage of the congressional resolution will harm its relations with the United States.
Bush's statement came as tens of thousands of Armenians marched in Yerevan Tuesday to mark the April 24 anniversary as the day in 1915 when Turkish authorities executed a large group of Armenian intellectuals and political leaders, accusing them of helping the invading Russian army during World War I.
"I join my fellow Americans and Armenian people around the world in commemorating this tragedy and honoring the memory of the innocent lives that were taken," Bush said in his statement.
He said that an open historical examination of the facts is essential for normalizing poor relations between Ankara and Yerevan.
"The United States supports and encourages those in both countries who are working to build a shared understanding of history as a basis for a more hopeful future," Bush said.
In a speech in Washington, Evans said that he believes that genocide is the best word for the killings. He said that following his comments while he was ambassador in 2005, a clarification renouncing his phrasing was posted on a State Department Web site. He said that that he did not write the clarification but did not object at the time to its posting.
Evans said that it was made clear to him that he could not remain at the State Department and he left to write a book on his experience late last year.
Bush's nominee to succeed him has been held up in the Senate with Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, blocking the nomination of Richard Hoagland over the career diplomat's refusal to use the word genocide at his confirmation hearing in June.
Evans said that he thought Hoagland was an appropriate choice for the position, but declined to comment on the process of his confirmation.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
IHT
The Associated PressPublished
WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush issued a statement of remembrance Tuesday for the estimated 1.5 million Armenians killed at the end of the Ottoman empire but stopped short of using the word genocide.
The wording followed long standing U.S. policy on the politically fraught word. The statement comes as Turkish and Armenian interest groups wrangle over a proposed congressional resolution calling for recognition of the World War I-era killings as genocide.
Also on Tuesday, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, who reportedly had his tour of duty cut short because, in a social setting, he referred to the killings as genocide, said that Turks need to confront the facts of the killings and to show contrition before there can be reconciliation.
"I think there can't be reconciliation before there is truth telling," he said.
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey however denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated, and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.
The issue is highly charged in both Turkey and Armenia. Turkish officials have said that passage of the congressional resolution will harm its relations with the United States.
Bush's statement came as tens of thousands of Armenians marched in Yerevan Tuesday to mark the April 24 anniversary as the day in 1915 when Turkish authorities executed a large group of Armenian intellectuals and political leaders, accusing them of helping the invading Russian army during World War I.
"I join my fellow Americans and Armenian people around the world in commemorating this tragedy and honoring the memory of the innocent lives that were taken," Bush said in his statement.
He said that an open historical examination of the facts is essential for normalizing poor relations between Ankara and Yerevan.
"The United States supports and encourages those in both countries who are working to build a shared understanding of history as a basis for a more hopeful future," Bush said.
In a speech in Washington, Evans said that he believes that genocide is the best word for the killings. He said that following his comments while he was ambassador in 2005, a clarification renouncing his phrasing was posted on a State Department Web site. He said that that he did not write the clarification but did not object at the time to its posting.
Evans said that it was made clear to him that he could not remain at the State Department and he left to write a book on his experience late last year.
Bush's nominee to succeed him has been held up in the Senate with Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, blocking the nomination of Richard Hoagland over the career diplomat's refusal to use the word genocide at his confirmation hearing in June.
Evans said that he thought Hoagland was an appropriate choice for the position, but declined to comment on the process of his confirmation.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 9:58 AM
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