Trump refuses to back Congress recognition of Armenian 'genocide' after Erdogan threat
The administration of US President Donald Trump says it does not consider the early 20th century mass killings of Armenians as 'genocide,' rejecting a Senate resolution saying otherwise.
The announcement by the US State Department came on Tuesday one day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to recognize the killing of Native Americans in retaliation as well as his earlier threat to close down US military bases in Turkey.
On Thursday, the Senate unanimously passed a nonbinding legislation to recognize the 1915 incident as 'genocide,' prompting angry denunciations by Turkey which rejects such a classification.
The legislation, which had already passed the lower House of Representatives in October, marked the first time Congress formally designated the killings at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
"To overlook human suffering is not who we are as a people," said Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey who co-sponsored the legislation alongside Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz. "It is not what we stand for as a nation. We are better than that, and our foreign policy should always reflect this."
However, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement on Tuesday that "the position of the administration has not changed."
"Our views are reflected in the president's definitive statement on this issue from last April," Ortagus said.
Back in April, Trump had in a statement commemorated the killings, describing them as “mass atrocities” rather than genocide.
Armenia says 1.5 million people were massacred, imprisoned, or faced forced deportation by the Ottoman Empire during WWI.
Ankara denies that “genocide” took place at the time, arguing that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks were killed in a civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers of the time.
On Friday, Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador to Ankara and conveyed Turkey's dismay over the measure.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened Monday to proceed to recognize the killing of millions of indigenous Americans as “genocide.”
Speaking on the official Haber news channel, Erdogan said Turkey “should oppose [the US] by reciprocating such decisions in parliament. And that is what we will do.”
“Can we speak about America without mentioning [Native Americans]? It is a shameful moment in US history,” he added, referring to the killing of millions of indigenous people at the end of the 15th century.
Angered by the US Congress recognition of the Armenian "genocide" as well as Washington's threats to slap new sanctions against Turkey, President Erdogan had earlier warned that Ankara could decide to shut down major US military facilities including the Incirlik airbase and the Kurecik radar base.
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