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One US Senator Blocks Resolution Recognizing Armenian Genocide

Reuters

   WASHINGTON - Republican Senator Kevin Cramer prevented the U.S. Senate
   from votingThursdayon a resolution that would recognize as a genocide
   the mass killings of Armenians a century ago, saying it was not an
   appropriate time to pass legislation that would anger Turkey.
   The Democrat-led House of Representatives passed the resolution 405-11
   in late October. But there has not been a vote in the Senate, where
   President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans holda majority ofseats.
   Congressional aides said the White House didnot want the legislation to
   move ahead while itwas negotiatingwith Ankara on sensitive issues such
   as Turkey's offensive against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria and
   the NATO ally's purchase of an S-400 missile defense system from
   Russia, which could provoke U.S. sanctions.
   The resolution asserts that it is U.S. policy to commemorate as
   genocide the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire
   from 1915 to 1923. The Ottoman Empire was centered in present-day
   Turkey.
   Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were
   killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War I, butitcontests
   the figures and denies that the killings were systematically
   orchestrated and constitutea genocide.

   Threat to sovereignty

   Ankara views foreign involvement in the issue as a threat to its
   sovereignty. It immediately denounced the House vote.
   Democratic Senator Bob Menendezof New Jerseyand Republican Senator Ted
   Cruzof Texastried to force a Senate vote on the resolution Thursday.
   Cramer, of North Dakota,blocked it, saying the time was not right,just
   after Trump held talks with Turkish PresidentRecepTayyip Erdogan
   ataNATO summit in London.
   "I don't think there's a single member of the Senate who doesn't have
   serious concerns about Turkey's behavior," Cramer said, adding, "At the
   right time, we may pass it."
   Menendez disagreed, noting Erdogan recently visited Washington and
   nothing had changed. He promised to come to the Senate chamber once a
   week to raise the issue.
   For decades, measures recognizing the Armenian genocide have stalled in
   Congress, stymied by concerns about relations with Turkey and intense
   lobbying by the Ankara government.
   The House vote marked the first time in 35 years such legislation was
   considered in the full chamber, underscoring widespread frustration in
   Congress with the Turkish government, from members of both U.S.
   political parties.

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