WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Senate unanimously passed a resolution that formally recognizes the Ottoman Empire’s mass killings against the Armenian people as “genocide,” a move might further strain relations between Washington and Ankara.
By passing Armenian Genocide resolution, “the Senate finally stood up to confirm history: What happened from 1915 to 1923 was – most assuredly – genocide,” said Democratic Senator Robert Menendez.
The move came one day after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced a bill to the full Senate, which directs the Trump administration to impose sanctions against Ankara because of its military operations in Syria and the purchase of Russia air defense system.
The resolution was passed in the House of Representatives in late October but had been blocked by Republican Senators several times at the request of the White House, which feared that its passage would infuriate Turkey.
Turkey, the Ottoman Empire’s successor state, claims the mass killings did not constitute genocide.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the recognition by the U.S. House of the “Armenian genocide” as “worthless” and the “biggest insult” to the Turkish people.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the vote a “political show” on social media, adding that “it is not legally binding and it has no validity whatsoever.”
Turkey’s state-run news agency, Anadolu, quoted Cavusoglu as saying that those who use history for political purposes are “cowards who do not want to face the truth”.
Turkey’s foreign ministry also issued a statement condemning the vote as “one of the shameful examples of how history can be politicised”, Anadolu reported.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.
They say the mass killings amounted to “genocide”, a claim recognised by about 30 countries.
Turkey strongly denies the accusation of “genocide” and says Armenians and Turks died as a result of World War I. It puts the death toll in the hundreds of thousands from both sides.
Turkey’s position on the events is that the deaths took place when some sided with invading Russians, and revolted against Ottoman forces.
Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia to examine the long-running controversy.
“This is a tribute to the memory of 1.5 million victims of the first #Genocide of the 20th century and bold step in promotion of the prevention agenda. #NeverAgain,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote on social media following the vote. — NNN-AGENCIES