US Senate vote on Armenian Genocide among Washington Post's 'Most Undersold Political Stories of 2019'

The Washington Post has listed the US Senate’s Resolution on the Armenian Genocide among its Most Five Undersold Political Stories of 2019.

Describing the move as an "increasingly overt sidelining of human rights in American foreign policy", the author of the recently published analytical article, Aaron Blake, notes that the historic decision followed Turkish attacks on Washington's Kurdish allies in Syria. ″After Turkey’s attacks on the United States’s Kurdish allies in Syria and its increasing flirtation with Russia, Congress for the first time mustered the will to declare Turkey’s treatment of the Armenians a century ago to be “genocide.” It did so after decades and decades of refusal. But it didn’t do so before the White House repeatedly held up the process, apparently owing to Trump’s desire to maintain relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And the administration has now said the Senate’s declaration doesn’t reflect its stance,” he says.

Blake notes, at the same time, that Donald  Trump is not the first US president to avoid characterizing the early 20th century mass killings of the Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as gencoide. ″He’s merely the latest in a long line to take such stances. Barack Obama said during his 2008 campaign that he would call it genocide, but he never did as president. Obama was also criticized for not taking a firmer approach to China’s human rights abuses. Where Trump has taken things a step further, though, has often been with how little he has been willing to say and how transactional he has been willing to appear,” reads the analysis.

Among the most ″undersold facts″ spotted in the reported are also the remaking of the judiciary, the scandal with Virginia State officials, the bipartisanship issue and the US stance on refugees.  

The US Senate passed the landmark measure, S.Res.150, on December 12, rejecting Turkey's policy of denial.  

The resolution, which is not legally binding, reflects the US stance on the issue, re-emphasizing the importance of officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide and commemorating its victims.

On October 29, the House of Representatives passed a similar bill (H.Res.150) by a vote of 405 to 10 to “commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance” and to “reject” Turkish efforts to deny the tragedy.  

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