Ross Wilson: White House to actively oppose Armenian Genocide resolution

The Bush Administration’s position on the issue of the Armenian Genocide has not changed, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson said in a statement to news organizations in Turkey. In his words, the Bush administration will actively oppose a resolution to recognize the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians at the end of World War I as genocide. He also underlined the Bush administration has warned that even congressional debate on the topic can damage relations with Turkey, a NATO member with close ties to the United States. In keeping with traditional U.S. policy, Wilson’s statement referred to the killings as “tragic events that took place at the end of the Ottoman Empire,” not as genocide, The International Herald Tribune reports.