Bush denies Armenian genocide
Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:33:05

US President,George W. Bush

US President has opposed moves to term the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire as ‘genocide’.

A US House resolution would ask the president to declare the killings of as many as 1.5 million Armenians nine decades ago a genocide.

In a statement, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said ” Bush has reiterated his opposition to this resolution,” adding that “the president has described the events as one of the tragedies of the 20th century, but believes the determination of whether or not the events constitute a genocide should be a matter for historical inquiry, not legislation.”

Turkey denies that a systematic slaughter of Armenians took place, saying Armenians and Turks alike were killed in ethnic clashes between 1915 and 1923 after Armenian groups sided with Russia in World War I.

Turkey as a key regional ally for the United States has warned that the passing of the draft would have defective consequences for the two countries’ relations.

A similar draft to the resolution before Congress was pulled from the House floor in October 2000 following an intervention by then president Bill Clinton.