Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who authored the resolution, choked back tears at the resolution’s passing, saying it marked a long-overdue step of recognition for the last living genocide survivors. In December 2019, the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed resolutions acknowledging the Armenian genocide, though the move was largely motivated as a rebuke of Turkey’s incursion into northeastern Syria after former President Trump Donald Trump Stowaway found in landing gear of plane after flight from Guatemala to Miami Kushner looking to Middle East for investors in new firm: report GOP eyes booting Democrats from seats if House flips MORE announced the withdrawal of U.S. More than 30 international governments have passed laws or resolutions or made statements recognizing the Armenian genocide, which is marked on April 24 each year. “Armenian Genocide recognition holds great meaning in terms of remembrance, but it is – at its heart – about the justice deserved and the security required for the survival of the Armenian nation – a landlocked, blockaded, genocide-survivor state,” Hamparian said in a statement.
has moral leadership in these matters,” he added.Īram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, which advocates for genocide recognition, praised the move.
“On the other hand, genocide recognition sends a message that the U.S. proves that it stands on the side of justice and right cause.” “The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today,” he added.Īrmenia’s ambassador to the U.S., Varuzhan Nersesyan, said in an interview with The Hill, "By recognizing the genocide the U.S. “Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring,” he said in the statement. The president’s roughly 300-word statement on Saturday marking Armenian Remembrance Day mentioned “genocide” twice. “I think there’s one thing that foreign leaders dislike more than sharp words from Washington, and that is to be ignored,” said John Herbst, director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and a more than three-decade veteran of the State Department.īut the atrocities against Armenians in the early 20th century are widely viewed as having informed the definition and legal implications of genocide that were implemented after the Holocaust.Īnd advocates say it is about delivering justice for victims of the deportations, tortures and killings while also safeguarding the survival of present-day Armenia. The timing of the call signaled the importance for Biden to maintain the U.S. labeling the mass killing of Armenians as genocide, and Biden reportedly indicated in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday that he planned to formally recognize the atrocities. The Turkish government is firmly against the U.S.
in efforts to combat terrorism, resolve the conflict in Syria and prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State.īut the relationship has become increasingly antagonistic, with Turkey defying allies by purchasing a Russian missile defense system, taking provocative action against Greece and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, and getting involved in regional conflicts with Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Turkey is a NATO ally and a partner with the U.S.