Placating Turkey, Trump Won’t Recognize Armenian Genocide

Officials say Trump's position unchanged

In a move seen as trying to placate Turkey, the State Department has issued a statement confirming that President Trump will not recognize the Armenian genocide, and that his position is unchanged since vague comments in April in which he called it an “atrocity” but stopped short of labeling it genocide.

Because Turkey is a NATO ally, the US historically has not publicly recognized the genocide, so as not to anger the Turkish government. Anger over Turkey’s invasion of northeast Syria has led the House and Senate to pass resolutions recognizing the genocide.

The resolutions are non-binding, and don’t oblige the president to either sign or recognize it. Turkey was still furious over the Senate’s vote and summoned the US Ambassador to protest over the vote.

Trump’s very public non-recognition after the vote is intended to keep Turkey from doing anything in retaliation, though with the US also advancing on sanctions against them for buying S-400 missiles, there will likely be more opportunities for US-Turkey relations to worsen.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.