The U.S. Senate is preparing to vote on the motion to formally recognise the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, at a time when U.S. lawmakers seek to rebuke Turkey over its Syria offensive, Yahoo News said on Thursday.
"As soon as next week, Democrats in the House of Representatives could ratify a measure recognizing the Armenian genocide, moving it out of committee and to the chamber floor, where it is likely to pass. The House Rules Committee is set to announce Thursday that it is going to take up the resolution next week, a final formal process before it can receive a vote," Yahoo News said.
Turkey denies that the killings were planned and coordinated by the Ottoman government, arguing that they, therefore, do not constitute a genocide. Ankara has also disputed the number of deaths, which it places far below a million, and says that there is not enough scholarly work has been done on primary sources to adequately discuss the events starting in 1915.
However, governments and parliaments of 29 countries, including Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, have recognised the events of 1915 as genocide.
Turkey on Oct. 9 launched an offensive in northeast Syria against the United State's Kurdish allies, which Ankara sees as affiliates of outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the region.
Trump has been facing severe criticism, levelled even by members of his own party, that slammed his decision to pull U.S. forces out of northeast Syria. After Turkish offensive, three sanctions draft bills introduced to the U.S. Congress would see tough sanctions imposed on Turkey over the Syria offensive, while Trump hit Ankara with sanctions, which he later lifted following a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement between Turkey and Kurdish forces.
"That leaves the House resolution as the most immediate means of rebuking Turkey at a time when tensions with the NATO ally are at a historic high," the news site said.
