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CRAWFORD, Texas, (AFP) - US President George W.
Bush on Sunday expressed sorrow on the 90th
anniversary of the forced exile and mass killings of
as many as 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks.
"I join my fellow Americans and Armenian people
around the world in expressing my deepest
condolences for this horrible loss of life," Bush
said in a statement that stopped short of calling
the killings genocide.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen
perished in orchestrated killings between 1915 and
1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart. Ankara
counters that 300,000 Armenians and thousands of
Turks were killed in "civil strife" during World War
I.
Bush said the anniversary was also an opportunity to
"look toward a promising future for an independent
Armenian state," and thanked Armenia for helping to
fight global terrorism and to build a democratic
Iraq.
He also said he hoped for "a lasting and peaceful
settlement" to the dispute between Armenia and
Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave and
said the United States seeks "a deeper partnership"
with Armenia.
"We remain committed to supporting the historic
reforms Armenia has pursued for over a decade. We
call on the Government of Armenia to advance
democratic freedoms that will further advance the
aspirations of the Armenian people," he added.
AFP
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