After the House of Representatives, the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday, December 12, recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Caller to "Commemorate the Armenian genocide" and "Reject attempts (…) to associate the American government with the denial of the Armenian genocide ", this non-binding text had previously been blocked several times in the Senate by Republican allies of President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, no one opposed the adoption of the resolution, proposed by the Democrat Bob Menendez. "I am pleased that this resolution was passed at a time when there are still survivors of the genocide who will see the Senate recognize what they have endured"said the senator in the hemicycle, seized by emotion.
The Armenian Genocide is recognized by thirty countries and the community of historians. According to estimates, between 1.2 million and 1.5 million Armenians were killed during the First World War by troops of the Ottoman Empire, then allied to Germany and Austria-Hungary. But Turkey refuses the use of the term "genocide", evoking reciprocal massacres in the midst of civil war and famine that has left hundreds of thousands dead on both sides.
An "insult" for Ankara
"The behavior of some members of the US Congress is detrimental to Turkish-American relations, warned Ankara Thursday night. The American resolution passed today in the Senate is jeopardizing the future of our bilateral relations. "
On the contrary, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian hailed a "Victory of justice and truth". "On behalf of the Armenian people, I express our gratitude to the US Congress," did he write on Twitter, calling the vote as "A courageous step towards the prevention of genocide in the future".
On October 30, the adoption by 405 out of 435 of this resolution in the House of Representatives had already provoked the ire of Ankara, which had denounced a "Insult" and a measure "No value". An ally of Donald Trump in the Senate then blocked the first attempt to vote the resolution in the upper house, about an hour after meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the White House on November 14.
