WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2019) The US Senate has joined the House of Representatives in passing a resolution to recognize the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
The Senate passed the resolution, which expresses "the sense of the Senate that it is the policy of the United States to commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance," according to the text submitted to Congress.
Senator Ted Cruz, one of several co-sponsors of the resolution drafted by Senator Bob Menendez, welcomed the passage of the legislation.
"This is the third week in a row we have come to the Senate floor seeking to pass this resolution. And I'm grateful that today we have succeeded. The Menendez-Cruz resolution affirms US recognition of the Armenian genocide," Cruz said. "I'm grateful that today we have seen every Republican, every Democrat come together in support of bipartisan Menendez-Cruz resolution. This is a moment of truth that was far too long coming."
The US House of Representatives voted to recognize the Armenian Genocide on October 29.
In the late 19th-early 20th centuries, Armenians found themselves an increasingly persecuted minority within the ailing Ottoman Empire. In 1915, according to a number of historians, more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed. The fact of the Armenian people's genocide in the Ottoman Empire was recognized by 23 states, as well as the European Parliament.
"It was an atrocious genocide. That it happened is a fact and an undeniable reality," Cruz said. "In fact, the very word 'genocide' literally means the killing of the entire people and it was coined... to describe the horrific nature of Ottoman Empire's calculated extermination of the Armenians. It is why we have the horrid word 'genocide' in our English language."
Turkey has traditionally rejected the accusations of Armenian genocide and is extremely sensitive to criticism on the issue. Ankara insists on the rejection of the term "genocide" in relation to the events of 1915. Turkey also calls for the creation of an international commission of historians to study the country's archival documents to develop an objective approach to the events of World War I.
