A day after the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide, leading U.S. senators urged the passage of a similar bill—S.Res. 150—pending in the Senate,

Senate Minority Leader Chuch Schumer (D-NY) on Wednesday called for the immediate consideration and passage of an Armenian Genocide recognition resolution pending in the Senate.

“On the Armenian Genocide, I have been a believer of this for a long time: Turks don’t like to hear it because the truth hurts. And, if we don’t stand up to one genocide, we won’t stand up to any,” told reporters on Wednesday in discussing Tuesday’s vote.

Democratic presidential hopeful and senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren took to Twitter to say: “I join the Armenian American community in MA and the rest of the Armenian diaspora in celebrating the House passage of a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. I cosponsored S.Res.150 to recognize this tragedy. The Senate should pass it now”.

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen similarly called for the passage of S.Res. 150, saying on Twitter that “Last night’s overwhelming vote in the House of Representatives—405 to 11—to recognize the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire is long overdue. It’s time for the Senate to do the same. Acknowledging history is the first step towards not repeating it.”

In April, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Democrat Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and former presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced Armenian Genocide legislation reaffirming proper U.S. recognition and remembrance of this crime and rejecting U.S. complicity in its denial, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

S.Res. 150 currently has 20 co-sponsors. In addition to Menendez, Cruz, Schumer and Van-Hollen, the list of co-sponsors includes senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Edward Markey (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Tom Udall (D-NM), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sheldon Winehouse (D-RI) and Ben Cordin (D-MD).

In addition to Warren, other Democratic presidential hopefuls who have co-sponsored the measure are senators Kamala Harris (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Corey Booker (D-NJ).

“As we near the anniversary of Armenian Remembrance Day, one of the darkest events in human history, I am proud to lead this effort to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide on behalf of the U.S. Congress. The Armenian genocide is a historical fact and not up for debate,” said Senator Menendez at the time. “Only by accurately recognizing this genocide of the past can we ever hope to move forward in a legitimate and effective manner to meet the challenge of preventing mass atrocities and genocide in the future. With this resolution, we honor the millions of victims of this genocide, remember how they died and pledge that history accurately remember their deaths.”

“We must never be silent in response to atrocities. Over one hundred years ago, the world was silent as the Armenian people suffered a horrific genocide, and today many are still unaware of it,” said Senator Cruz at the time. “I am proud to join Sen. Menendez and my colleagues today in introducing this resolution. May the terrors of those events awaken in us the courage to always stand for freedom against evil.”

Two prominent Israeli politicians are calling for recognition of the Armenian Genocide after the US House of Representatives adopted the H.Res.296, The Times of Israel reports.

“The US House of Representatives vote to recognize the Armenian Genocide is a vote for historical truth and justice. Turkey cannot be allowed to intimidate the world into denying genocide. I will continue to fight for Israeli recognition of the Armenian Genocide,” tweeted lawmaker Yair Lapid, the co-leader of the Blue and White political alliance of Israel.

Earlier in April Lapid was strongly advocating for a Knesset bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide, which however failed to pass.

Citing what he called Israel’s “moral and historical responsibility,” he tweeted in April that it was time for the government “to officially recognize the Armenian genocide and stop folding in the face of Turkish pressure.”

Ex- Likud minister MK Gideon Sa’ar also called for recognition, tweeting on Wednesday that he “welcome[d] the moral and principled stance of the US House of Representatives in recognizing the mass killing of #Armenians 100 years ago as #genocide. Israel should make similarly clear its recognition of this terrible atrocity.”

The Times of Israel notes that there are individual lawmakers in the Knesset who support recognition.

In 2016, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein urged Israel to recognize the Armenian genocide.

“The issue of recognition of the Armenian genocide is raised every year in the Knesset, usually in the form of proposed legislation rather than a call for a debate, and has been knocked down by sitting governments annually since 1989, when MK Yair Tzaban first brought it to the floor. Israel’s refusal thus far to formally recognize the Armenian slaughter as genocide is based on geopolitical and strategic considerations, primary among them its relations with Turkey”, the Times of Israel wrote.

The Armenian foreign ministry welcomed the US House passage of the resolution, which “is of profound significance in that it resolves to commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance, to reject its denial and encourage the education and understanding of the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923 as a definitive example of genocide of the 20th century”.

Shortly after the US House of Representatives adopted the resolution, Turkey strongly criticized the move, and President Erdogan declared that the Turkish parliament will respond to the vote.

Ankara also summoned the US ambassador over the adoption of the resolution.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has welcomed the move by the US House of Representatives to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide in the recently adopted landmark resolution.

In an official statement on Tuesday, the prime minister praised the passage of H.Res.296 as a “powerful step towards re-establishing historical justice and truth”, considering it also a great consolation to the heirs of many Genocide survivors.

“Accept my heartfelt congratulations and admiration to the descendants of those US-Armenians whose selfless political and social activity, and resoluteness served as the driving force and enthusiasm behind the historic vote. Never again,” he said.

The House overwhelmingly passed the resolution on Tuesday by a vote of 405 to 11 with 3 voting present.

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu slammed a move by the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday to vote in favor of a resolution recognizing the mass killings of Armenians a century ago as a “genocide”, saying the decision was “null and void”.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 405-11 in favor of a resolution recognizing the mass killings of Armenians a century ago as a genocide, a symbolic but historic vote likely to inflame tensions with Turkey.

In a tweet, Cavusoglu said Turkey had thwarted a “big game” with its offensive into northeastern Syria and that the move by the House was aimed at taking revenge for the operation.

“Those whose projects were frustrated turn to antiquated resolutions. Circles believing that they will take revenge this way are mistaken. This shameful decision of those exploiting history in politics is null&void for our Government and people,” Cavusoglu said on Twitter.

Aaron Schaffer,

Ankara and its allies are warning Congress of the risk of “permanent negative resentment” between Turkey and the United States if House members go forward with plans to recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide this week.

On Friday, Turkish Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilic wrote to lawmakers to warn them that voting for the “biased” resolution would only add to the growing number of disputes between the two countries. The House Rules Committee is scheduled to take up the nonbinding resolution tonight, setting up a floor vote as early as Tuesday as lawmakers seek to punish Turkey for its intervention against the Kurds in Syria.

The bipartisan resolution recognizes the massacre of more than 1 million mostly Christian Armenians in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire as a genocide. According to Kilic, the bill “will considerably poison the political environment between Turkey and the United States, at a time when regional and international developments require extensive collaboration and cooperation between our two countries more than ever before.”

Kilic’s letter was published on Twitter by the Washington-based Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), which has long lobbied in favor of the resolution. The leaked letter was originally distributed to lawmakers by Venable, one of the six lobbying and public relations firms registered to work for the Turkish government.

Turkey has also been able to count on several Turkish-American groups to make its case. The Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) and Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC), two US-based organizations with thousands of members, blasted out emails urging their members to contact lawmakers.

“We have only two choices,” ATAA wrote. “We can be passive and allow these allegations to go on, or we can stand up and defend ourselves, our history, and the future of our children here in the United States.” The email goes on to accuse “extremists” in the Armenian diaspora of hijacking the will of the Armenian people; the Armenian government, however, publicly supports the “international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.”

The bill comes at a perilous time for US-Turkey relations, which have notably suffered from Turkey’s decision to purchase air defense missiles from Russia, and the United States’ refusal to extradite exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey blames for the failed 2016 coup.

Following Ankara’s incursion into northern Syria earlier this month, bipartisan backlash has been swift. In addition to the genocide bill, the House is also expected to vote on new sanctions on the NATO ally this week, while pending annual defense legislation would lift an arms embargo on Cyprus, to the delight of Turkey rival Greece.

“While emotions run high,” TASC wrote in their email, House leaders are “manipulating the circumstances to introduce H.Res.296 for a floor vote soon.”

On the other side of the issue, the Armenians can count on a loose alliance of Christian and Jewish groups to make their case.

ANCA has been among the most vocal advocates of the bill, mounting a Capitol Hill lobbying push in recent days as frustrated lawmakers take on a bevy of measures aimed at Turkey. Genocide recognition, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian said in a statement, “is especially timely today, as Turkey commits new crimes against our Kurdish allies and at-risk Christian and Yezidi civilians across northern Syria.”

The Anti-Defamation League endorsed the resolution today, with ADL President Jonathan Greenblatt saying in a statement that “remembering and educating about any genocide — Armenian, the Holocaust, Bosnia, Rwanda, and others — is a necessary tool to prevent future tragedies and begins with recognition.” In Defense of Christians, meanwhile, has actively lobbied for the resolution.

The State Department has declined to comment on the resolution but has raised concerns that calling the massacre a genocide would harm bilateral relations. A spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal that the 1915 events constituted “one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century.” The White House isn’t wading into the controversy, since the simple House resolution doesn’t go to the president for his signature.

A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. Four 2020 presidential candidates — Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. — have co-sponsored the legislation.

The U.S. House of Representatives will likely recognize the Armenian Genocide, the UN Ambassador in Barack Obama’s administration, Samantha Power, said in a tweet on Monday, October 29.

“Armenian-Americans and Rep. Adam Schiff have tried for years to get Congress to recognize the Armenian Genocide,” Power said

“At long last, tomorrow (October 29 – Ed.), despite Turkish denial, the House will likely recognize the 1st genocide of the 20th century.”

Power also shared a tweet by Schiff, which reads: “This has been years in the making, thanks to the tireless advocacy of those who insisted the US must never be a party to genocide denial. I hope all Members join me next week in voting to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

We will never forget, and we will never be silent.”

Armenian-Americans & @RepAdamSchiff have tried for yrs to get Congress to recognize the #ArmenianGenocide. At long last, TOMORROW, despite Turkish denial, the House will likely recognize the 1st genocide of the 20th century. (@BobMenendezNJ, @tedcruz pushing parallel Senate bill) https://t.co/9iojw73RNA

— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) October 29, 2019

By Harut Sassounian

The United States government has recognized the Armenian Genocide multiple times in the past. In an official document submitted by the US government to the World Court in 1951, the Armenian Genocide was acknowledged for the first time as an example of Genocide. The House of Representatives adopted two resolutions in 1975 and 1984, acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. Furthermore, Pres. Ronald Reagan issued a Presidential Proclamation on April 22, 1981 referencing the Armenian Genocide.

Nevertheless, recent US Administrations have made repeated attempts to block the acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide by the US Congress and successive American Presidents have avoided using the term Genocide in their April 24 commemorative statements.

For example, the Reagan Administration, after Pres. Reagan issued a Presidential Proclamation in 1981 acknowledging the Armenian Genocide, opposed Congressional resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

The George H. W. Bush Administration opposed Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole’s efforts to have the US Senate recognize the Armenian Genocide Resolution in 1990.

The Clinton Administration blocked the passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution in 2000, moments before the House was to vote on it.

The George W. Bush Administration objected to the adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution by the House of Representatives in 2007.

The Obama Administration opposed the Armenian Genocide Resolution in 2010, preventing it from reaching a full House vote.

An unclassified “Secret” State Department document, dated October 2, 2000, discloses the length to which the US government went to block the passage of House Resolution 596 in the year 2000, while Bill Clinton was President and Madeleine Albright was Secretary of State. Resolution 596 was approved by the House International Relations Committee on 24 yes, 11 no and 2 present votes on October 3, 2000., but not put to a vote in the House of Representatives.

The “Secret” document contains two letters: the first from Secretary of State Albright to Foreign Minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian and Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Ipekci; the second letter is from Tom Pickering, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, to Dick Solomon, President of the US Institute of Peace. In an introductory note, Steven Sestanovich, Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for the new independent states of the former Soviet Union, tells US Ambassador to Armenia Michael Lemmon that both Pickering and Solomon “are obviously part of the deal we are trying to put in place to head off the Genocide Resolution. I discussed them today with VO [Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian] and Van Krikorian [Co-Chair of the Armenian Assembly of America] did the same. VO was positively disposed but said he could not speak for RK [Pres. Robert Kocharyan], who had already gone home sick. VO will speak with him tomorrow and get his reaction….”

Secretary of State Albright, in her letter to the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Turkey states: “The US Administration has strongly opposed this resolution, believing that it offers a completely counterproductive approach to the goal of improving relations between Turkey and Armenia and promoting reconciliation between the Turkish and Armenian peoples. I am hopeful that we will proceed in getting this resolution put aside, because we are strongly committed to what we believe could be a more promising approach…. I will be writing in due course with some ideas about how to make this effort a success.”

In the second letter, Under Secretary of State Pickering wrote to Solomon, President of the US Institute of Peace, an independent institution founded by Congress: “…Recently, the Congress has been deliberating a resolution, HR 596 on ‘Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.’ As you know, the Administration has opposed this resolution, but we firmly believe that a Truth and Reconciliation process on this subject is needed…. The Secretary [of State] has asked me to write to propose that the US Institute of Peace begin developing ideas for such a Truth and Reconciliation process with the goal of launching it in the near future…. As a first step, we hope you will consider convening a group of credible and recognized Turks, Armenians and others. These should include the representatives of public groups, scholars, archivists, government or former government officials and others. Our hope is that an initial meeting could be held as early as December in Washington, D.C. This initial planning group would review the historical and political contexts and generate a consensus on the scope and timetable of subsequent activities, including creation of a commission to prepare a report.”

The initiative proposed by the Department of State was finally launched in July 2001 when the “Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission” (TARC) was founded with the participation of six Turks and four Armenians which included Van Krikorian from the Armenian Assembly of America, Antranik Migranian from Moscow, and two Armenian foreign ministry officials.

In the months succeeding the formation of TARC, I wrote several editorials opposing it because it was clear that TARC was a ploy by the State Department to block the proposed congressional resolution to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Even without the knowledge of the “Secret” document disclosed in this article, most observers suspected that TARC was created and funded by the State Department in conjunction with the Turkish government to undermine the pursuit of the Armenian Cause.

Unfortunately, certain Armenian groups and individuals were deceived by this American-Turkish ploy which was naively supported by the Armenian Foreign Ministry. It took a considerable effort on the part of many Diaspora Armenians to convince the Armenian government to drop its support of TARC.

Armenians need to remain vigilant not to fall in the trap of those who pursue their own interests at the expense of the Armenian nation!