Will the USA recognize the "Armenian genocide?"

Baku /29.10.19 / Turan: Today, the US House of Representatives will vote on a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Influential representatives of both the Democratic and Republican parties support it.

The accelerated consideration of the resolution was caused by the crisis in US relations with Turkey due to the Turkish operation in northern Syria. Official Ankara is expected to respond to recognition of the genocide by recalling its ambassador from Washington.

The resolution has a significant chance of getting approval. On Monday, it passed through the committee on the rules of procedure, which put it to the vote of the entire House of Representatives and without the possibility of amending, reports the BBC.

The document was submitted to Congress in January, supported by Democrat Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and Republican Minority Committee Leader Michael McCall, as well as two congressional representatives from different districts of California - Devin Nunes and Adam Schiff, who are irreconcilable opponents on many other issues.

“October 29 may be one of the most important days for American Armenians,” said Migran Tumajyan, director of the “Armenian Assembly of America” for the western region. “Our warning to members of Congress: if someone dares to repeat Ankara’s erroneous position that there was no genocide, we we’ll not forget that."

Behind the accelerated consideration of the resolution is the deterioration of US relations with Turkey due to the Turkish operation against the Syrian Kurds, the former key allies of the Americans in the fight against the Islamic State.

This geopolitical context is not hidden by supporters of the resolution. On the day the Turkish operation began, Congressman Ted Lew tweeted that “now is the time for the United States to recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

The US position on the issue of genocide has traditionally been determined by geopolitics - Washington was not ready to conflict with Turkey, a key partner in NATO. American presidents, not excluding Donald Trump, have so far called the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire a “great atrocity,” but they have avoided using the word “genocide”. Turkish authorities deny that the mass deaths of Christians in 1915-1919 were a targeted state policy.

"The moment of this vote and the fact that its supporters associate it with a specific problem in relations between the United States and Turkey, in fact, makes it a political tool," said BBC American expert Joshua Kuchera. -02D-