- Tweeter
republish
Three weeks after Turkey launched a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria, the US House of Representatives on Tuesday (October 29th) recognized the Armenian Genocide in a new vote. Turkey has (badly) reacted.
With our correspondent in New York, Loubna Anaki
The result of the vote was welcomed by applause. The resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide was adopted by a large majority of Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives.
A vote that actually comes a few weeks after the withdrawal of US troops and the offensive led by Turkey against the Kurds in northern Syria. A situation that provoked sharp criticism even in the ranks of the closest supporters of Donald Trump.
For the Democrat Adam Schiff who defended this text for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire, it was essential to send a strong signal in the current context. " When we see the images of terrified families in northern Syria, we can not say that the crimes of a century ago are a thing of the past. We will not forget, and we will not keep quiet. "
Representatives also adopted by a large majority, here too, sanctions against some Turkish officials in connection with the Syrian offensive.
If this vote is symbolically strong, it is not binding because it must still be adopted by the Senate.
It is an understatement that the initiative displeased Turkey. The Foreign Ministry condemned "strongly" a "political act meaningless," whose "sole recipients the Armenian lobby and anti-Turkish groups." Ankara refuses to use the word genocide and continues to talk about massacres in times of civil war with victims on both sides.
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. As for President Trump, he himself never used the word genocide.