The US House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a historic vote that recognized the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turks. US lawmakers passed the resolution by a 405-to-11 vote.
“The United States has a proud history of recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide, the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923,” the resolution read.
The resolution came as criticism has raised against Turkey over its incursion into northeast Syria and its military offensive against the US-allied Kurdish-led Syrian Defence Forces (SDF) which began earlier this month.
“To honour the memory of those lost in the suffering, of those who survived, we firmly and unequivocally denounce all attempts to devalue or minimize these heinous crimes. I urge a strong vote for this resolution, which is a statement of America’s commitment to human rights and to the truth,” the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday.
Pelosi noted that “recent attacks by the Turkish military against the Kurdish people are a stark reminder of the danger in our own time.”
In response, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the resolution on Wednesday as “worthless,” saying it “insults” his people.
Meanwhile, Tukey summoned the US Ambassador to Ankara to denounce the US House recognising of the Armenian genocide, according to Turkish news agency Anadolu Agency.
