U.S. Senate passes resolution recognizing Armenian genocide, angering Turkey
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The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution that recognizes as a genocide the mass killings of Armenians a century ago, a historic move that infuriated Turkey and dealt a blow to the already problematic ties between Ankara and Washington.
Turkey condemned the measure, which passed a month after an official visit to the White House by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who enjoys a special rapport with President Donald Trump, amid mounting issues that have soured the relationship between the two NATO allies.
The resolution asserts that it is U.S. policy to commemorate as genocide the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. The Ottoman Empire was centered in present-day Turkey.
Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives had passed the resolution by an overwhelming majority in October. But a vote in the Senate was repeatedly blocked by Trump’s fellow Republican senators since meeting with Erdogan.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan tweeted in English thanking the US Senate for the vote.
US Senate Resolution 150 is a victory of justice and truth. On behalf of the #Armenia’n people worldwide, I express our profound appreciation to the Senate for this landmark legislation.
