BUSH REJECTS TURKEY "GENOCIDE" TAG

THIS IS DISGUSTING. WHEN HITLER REASSURED HIS HENCHMEN THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE CRITICIZED FOR MASS-MURDERING JEWS AND POLES, HE SAID, "Who still talks nowadays of the annihilation of the Armenians?"

BUSH REJECTS TURKEY 'GENOCIDE' TAG (The Age - Australia)
THE US President has opposed moves to legally term the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire a "genocide", backing Turkey's stand on the issue.

"The President has described the events of 1915 as 'one of the greatest 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," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

The comments came after George Bush talked with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed legislation before the US Congress, which describes the deaths of Armenians from 1915 to 1923 as genocide. "The President reiterated his opposition to this resolution, the passage of which would be harmful to US relations with Turkey," Mr Johndroe said.

Turkey is a key Muslim ally for the US and a fellow member of NATO.

Turkey's then foreign minister Abdullah Gul, who is now Turkish President, warned after a visit to Washington in February that passing the draft would "poison" ties and "spoil everything" between the two countries.

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

Turkey categorically rejects Armenian claims that 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in systematic deportations and killings during 1915-1918, as the Ottoman Empire was breaking up.

Mr Bush commemorates the massacres each year in a speech but stops short of calling them genocide.

Many countries have recognised the killings as genocide, and Turkey has responded by temporarily downgrading its political and economic ties with some of them.