Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) blocked a resolution on Wednesday that would have formally recognized the Ottoman Empire’s genocide against the Armenian people.
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) asked for consent to pass the resolution that would have provided “official recognition and remembrance” of the Armenian genocide.
“The United States foreign policy must reflect an honest accounting of human rights abuses, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and genocide. We cannot turn our backs on the Armenian victims of genocide,” he said.
Menendez noted that he listened to President Trump’s press conference Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Turkish president scolded a House-passed resolution recognizing the genocide and instead promised to “establish a history commission.”
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Graham’s objection came hours after he took part in a White House meeting with Trump, Erdoğan and a group of GOP senators.
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The resolution passed the House in a 405-11 vote. Turkey does not recognize the killing of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide.
The House vote came in the wake of Ankara’s military incursion into northern Syria after the Trump administration pulled troops from the area.
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Graham blocks resolution recognizing Armenian genocide after Trump-Erdoğan meeting https://t.co/OysaqRGQ78 pic.twitter.com/mVVkBCyYnB
— The Hill (@thehill) November 14, 2019
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