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WASHINGTON, D.C. – On April 23, U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) issued the following statement after the Administration failed to call the massacres of Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish government a genocide:
“As we mark the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, I call on the Administration to recognize the murder of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915-1923 by Ottoman Turkey for what it was: genocide. Recognition of past genocides is crucial for preventing future genocides, so it is long past due to speak honestly about what happened to the Armenians."
BACKGROUND
Senator Kirk joined Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to co-lead the introduction of S.Res.140, a bipartisan resolution which calls on the Administration for the following:
To remember and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2015
That the President work toward an equitable, constructive, stable, and durable Armenian-Turkish relationship that includes the full acknowledgment by the Government of the Republic of Turkey of the facts about the Armenian Genocide
That the President ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide relating to the Armenian Genocide