Presidential candidate Kerry uses the word "massacre"

WASHINGTON (AA) – Presidential candidate in the US, Democrat John Kerry claimed that some 1.5 million Armenians were massacred during the Ottoman Empire period.

Making a statement regarding the 89-th anniversary of the so-called Armenian genocide, "April 24th marks the 89th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide. Between 1915 and 1923 the rulers of the old Ottoman Empire killed or deported over 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children in a systematic policy of ethnic determination. I thank Armenian Americans for their persistence in the struggle to gain international recognition of this atrocity. By keeping the memory of this tragedy alive, Armenian Americans remind us all of our collective responsibility to insure that such horrors are not repeated.”

"I join Armenian Americans and Armenians worldwide in mourning the victims of the Armenian Genocide and I call on governments and people everywhere to formally recognize this tragedy. Only by learning from this dark period of history and working to prevent future genocides can we truly honor the memories of those Armenians who suffered so unjustly,” he said.