In a statement timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Armenian genocide that left more than 1.5 million Armenians killed in Ottoman Turkey in 1915, U.S. President George W. Bush failed to categorize the mass killings as \"genocide,\" sparking sharp criticism from Armenian groups on 25 April, RFE/RL\'s Yerevan bureau and Armenpress reported. Bush\'s statement used weaker terms such as \"horrible tragedy\" and \"appalling events\" in reference to the genocide, apparently to avoid angering Turkey. The move follows a statement by President Kocharian on 24 April promising to pursue international recognition of the Armenian genocide. Leading groups in the Armenian diaspora denounced Bush\'s statement, with the Armenian National Committee of America specifically criticizing Bush for breaking a \"February 2000 campaign pledge to recognize properly the Armenian Genocide\" and all expressing disappointment with the Bush administration\'s failure to confront Turkish denial of the genocide despite Turkey\'s recent refusal to allow U.S. troops to use bases in Turkey for the war on Iraq. (RFE/RL)