Azernews.Az

US President George Bush did not use the "genocide" term with regard to the 1915 developments in Ottoman Turkey in his traditional address on Thursday, just like in previous years, to the disappointment of Armenians.
Nonetheless, he called it "one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century", expressing his "deepest condolences to Armenian people around the world".
"I join the Armenian community in America and around the world in commemorating this tragedy and mourning the loss of so many innocent lives," he said in a statement.
Armenians mark April 24 as the date marking the fake genocide. Turkey rejects Armenian claims that 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in deportations and killings during 1915-1918 in the Ottoman Empire.
In late 2007, Bush fiercely opposed US legislation that would have branded the 1915 developments as genocide, amid concerns that Turkey might retaliate with diplomatic reprisals.
Ankara also counters that 300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks were killed in civil strife during World War I.
"We welcome the efforts by individuals in Armenia and Turkey to foster reconciliation and peace, and support joint efforts for an open examination of the past in search of a shared understanding of these tragic events," said Bush. "We look forward to the realization of a fully normalized Armenia-Turkey relationship."
Bush also said he hoped for "a lasting and peaceful settlement" to the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, saying the United States would act as an "honest broker" in the row.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) was riled by Bush's avoiding the "genocide" term. The body's executive director Aram Ambarian said the US president had failed to keep the promise made before the elections, and no work had been done during his tenure to recognize the alleged genocide.
Ambarian claimed that the White House leader had also used his administrative powers to block passage of the genocide bill in Congress.
"He dismissed the US ambassador [to Armenia] because he had spoken the truth about these crimes. Instead, he appointed an individual who negates the genocide to the post. George Bush did not confine to pursuing anti-Armenian policy during his two presidential terms, and also discussed the Armenian issue with the leaders of other states, without meeting with representatives of the Armenian community in the U.S.," Ambarian claimed.
ANCA further decided to stage a protest under the "Put an end to the hush-up policy" slogan.
Armenians held public protests in a number of countries on Thursday, including a march to a memorial to the victims of the so-called genocide in central Yerevan. The protesters holding the flags of Armenia and the countries that recognized the "genocide" burned Turkey's flag.
Armenians outrageously protested outside Turkish embassies in a number of countries in an effort to achieve recognition of the fake genocide.
The police in Moscow allowed the protesters to pass by the Turkish embassy building. During the protest that involved about 10 cars, the people in the vehicles held up Armenian flags, while the drivers pressed their signals.
In Iran, the Armenians' march toward the Turkish embassy failed to take place, as the Tehran police did not allow the participants of the unsanctioned protest to proceed. The crowd gathered at an Armenian church and attempted to go outside and march toward the Turkish embassy, but the protest ended inside the church after a warning was issued by the law enforcers.
Armenians were able to hold such a march only in 2007. In the previous years, such protests were not allowed.
Armenia, which is trying to deceive the world community by campaigning for the fake genocide, perpetrated genocide itself across Azerbaijan in 1918. Hundreds of thousands of innocent Azerbaijanis as well as people of numerous ethnic minorities - Kurds, Lezgins, Jews, and Russians - fell victims of these atrocities in different regions of the country.
In April 2007, large quantities of human bones were discovered in the soil during the repair work on a stadium in the northern city of Guba. An expertise revealed that the remains belonged to Azerbaijanis and local Jews slain by Armenians in 1918.
Another act of genocide was committed by Armenians in the late 20th century. On February 26, 1992, Armenian forces attacked unarmed civilians in the Khojaly district with the support of the Russian troops, which went down in history as the most horrifying tragedy of the century. 613 people were brutally killed, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly. 1,275 were taken captives, while 487 became handicapped and 150 went missing. The damage inflicted to the economy by the carnage amounted to over $1 billion.
The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), a union of Islamic nations, passed a resolution in 2007 condemning the Khojaly massacre. The document, submitted by the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation, was unanimously approved at a meeting of the organization's expert group in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The resolution termed the Armenian attack as mass killings.
On March 8, 2007, the Ceyhan municipality of Turkey passed a decision to recognize the Khojaly developments as genocide. The initiative had been put forth by the municipality leader Huseyn Sozlu.
The massacre victims are commemorated every year in countries that have the Azerbaijani Diaspora across Europe, America and Asia.
Court warrants have been issued so far to arrest 31 individuals accused of spearheading or having a hand in the perpetration of the massacre. Azerbaijan has appealed to the Interpol to punish the culprits.
Khojaly, one of Azerbaijan's most ancient settlements in Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, had a population of 7,000 people, including Azeris ousted from Armenia and Meskhet Turks driven out of Fergana, Uzbekistan in 1989.