{"id":48,"date":"2008-06-16T23:06:24","date_gmt":"2008-06-16T20:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/?p=48"},"modified":"2023-04-02T12:49:52","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T09:49:52","slug":"bush-recognizes-armenian-genocide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2008\/06\/16\/bush-recognizes-armenian-genocide\/","title":{"rendered":"BUSH RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE"},"content":{"rendered":"
GEORGE W. BUSH RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE<\/span><\/div>\n

—\u00a0 Republican Candidate Calls on Americans to
\nRemember and Acknowledge “Facts and Lessons” of
\nthe “Genocidal Campaign” against the Armenians<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON, DC – In a powerfully worded letter to two of his
\nleading Armenian American supporters, Republican presidential
\nhopeful Texas Governor George Bush acknowledged the Armenian
\nGenocide, called on Americans to join with him in remembering the
\ncrime committed against the Armenian people, and pledged as
\nPresident to ensure that the United States properly recognizes this
\nterrible atrocity, reported the Armenian National Committee of
\nAmerica (ANCA).<\/p>\n

Governor Bush’s letter, addressed to Michigan community activist
\nEdgar Hagopian and New York businessman Vasken Setrakian, who
\nattended Harvard with the Governor, also called for continued U.S.
\naid to Armenia, encouraged a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno
\nKarabagh conflict, and praised the “tremendous contribution of the
\nArmenian community to the United States.”<\/p>\n

“We welcome Governor Bush’s principled stand on the Armenian
\nGenocide and join with him in calling upon all Americans to
\nacknowledge both the facts and lessons of this crime against
\nhumanity,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.\u00a0 “We would
\nlike, as well, to voice our community’s gratitude to Vasken
\nSetrakian and Edgar Hagopian, both of whom have done so much to
\nshare with Governor Bush the issues of pressing concern to our
\ncommunity.\u00a0 We appreciate their leadership and value their
\ncontribution to expanding the voice of Armenian Americans in the
\npolitical process.”<\/p>\n

Governor Bush’s rival for the Republican nomination, Arizona
\nSenator John McCain, has yet to speak out on Armenian issues.\u00a0 He
\nhas remained silent, in particular, on the Armenian Genocide,
\ndespite having received an unprecedented number of postcards from
\nArmenian Americans as part of the ANCA’s million postcard campaign
\nto leading presidential candidates – including Governor Bush, Vice
\nPresident Al Gore and former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley.<\/p>\n

The two hundred thousand postcards addressed to Sen. McCain ask him
\nto explain his vote in 1990 against former Senator Bob Dole’s
\nArmenian Genocide resolution and, more recently, his 1999 vote to
\nlift the Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan,
\ndespite Azerbaijan’s failure to lift its blockades of Armenia and
\nNagorno Karabagh.\u00a0 (For more information on the ANCA postcard
\ncampaign, visit anca web site.)<\/p>\n

In a September 1998 speech in the U.S. Senate, McCain attacked a
\nCongressionally approved ten million dollar aid package to the
\nAmerican University of Armenia as an “objectionable program,” and a
\n“serious diversion of scarce resources otherwise needed for truly
\nworthy programs.”\u00a0 (For more information on this speech, visit
\n<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

Provided below is the full text of Governor Bush’s letter.<\/p>\n

==========================================<\/p>\n

George W. Bush for President
\nFebruary 19, 2000<\/p>\n

Mr. Edgar Hagopian
\nMr. Vasken Setrakian<\/p>\n

Dear Edgar and Vasken,<\/p>\n

Thank you for your inquiry to my campaign regarding issues of
\nconcern to Armenian Americans.<\/p>\n

The twentieth century was marred by wars of unimaginable brutality,
\nmass murder and genocide.\u00a0 History records that the Armenians were
\nthe first people of the last century to have endured these
\ncruelties.\u00a0 The Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign
\nthat defies comprehension and commands all decent people to
\nremember and acknowledge the facts and lessons of an awful crime in
\na century of bloody crimes against humanity.\u00a0 If elected President,
\nI would ensure that our nation properly recognizes the tragic
\nsuffering of the Armenian people.<\/p>\n

The Armenian diaspora and the emergence of an independent Republic
\nof Armenia stand as a testament to the resiliency of the Armenian
\npeople.\u00a0 In this new century, the United States must actively
\nsupport the independence of all the nations of the Caucasus by
\npromising the peaceful settlement of regional disputes and the
\neconomic development of the region.\u00a0 American assistance to Armenia
\nto encourage the development of democracy, the rule of law and a
\ntolerant open society is vital.\u00a0 It has my full support.<\/p>\n

I am encouraged by recent discussions between the governments of
\nArmenia and Azerbaijan.\u00a0 The United States should work actively to
\npromote peace in the region and should be willing to serve as a
\nmediator.\u00a0 But ultimately peace must be negotiated and sustained by
\nthe parties involved.\u00a0 Lasting peace can come only from agreements
\nthey judge to be in their best interests.<\/p>\n

I appreciate the tremendous contribution of the Armenian community
\nto the United States.\u00a0 The Armenian community has been and will
\ncontinue to be a model of dedication to values of faith and family.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

[signed]
\nGeorge W. Bush<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GEORGE W. BUSH RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE —\u00a0 Republican Candidate Calls on Americans to Remember and Acknowledge “Facts and Lessons” of the “Genocidal Campaign” against the Armenians WASHINGTON, DC – In a powerfully worded letter to two of his leading Armenian American supporters, Republican presidential hopeful Texas Governor George Bush acknowledged the Armenian Genocide, called on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":774848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-armenian-question","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}