一个倡导团体称，唐纳德·特朗普总统的政府拒绝通过国会批准的正式承认亚美尼亚种族灭绝的决议，从而损害了美国在人权方面的声誉。
上周，参议院通过了一项决议，表达了对奥斯曼帝国20世纪大屠杀的“官方承认和纪念”，但今天土耳其仍否认了这一点。众议院在10月份通过了一项相同的决议。
但白宫尚未采纳该决议，招致立法者和亚美尼亚裔美国人的谴责，他们指责特朗普将政府与土耳其的关系置于人权和种族灭绝纪念之上。
据美联社报道，本周早些时候，国务院发言人摩根·奥尔塔格斯表示特朗普政府的立场“没有改变”。"我们的观点反映在去年4月总统关于这个问题的明确声明中。"
随后，特朗普发表声明纪念亚美尼亚纪念日，纪念“那些在20世纪最严重的大规模暴行中受难的人们”特朗普的声明没有使用“种族灭绝”一词，这符合美国既定的政策。
但是根据美国亚美尼亚大会联合主席范·克里柯里安的说法，白宫在承认种族灭绝方面做得还不够，这场种族灭绝在1915年至1923年间杀害了100多万人。
克里柯里安告诉我新闻周刊政府没有在众议院或参议院反对这项决议，但却没有最终批准。
他说:“政府仍然不肯定美国的记录，也不做正确的事情，这令人非常沮丧。”。
罗纳德·里根总统承认了1981年的种族灭绝，但是后来的总统们避免使用这个词，因为害怕疏远美国的土耳其盟友。
屠杀发生在奥斯曼帝国的最后几年，成千上万的亚美尼亚人被强行迁移到叙利亚沙漠和其他地方。受害者要么被杀，要么死于饥饿和疲惫。
土耳其否认发生了种族灭绝，并对被杀害的亚美尼亚人的人数提出质疑。该国政府辩称，那些死去的人是在与奥斯曼军队作战时死去的。
克里柯里安暗示，政府在拖延时间，以避免与土耳其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安发生冲突。“埃尔多安是一个如此不可预测和危险的人——我们过去曾经威胁过美国人的生命，”他解释道。"所以也许他们这样做是为了让他冷静一点。"
但是克里柯里安说，这种无所作为让人觉得土耳其“可以左右特朗普政府”。
“埃尔多安不尊重唐纳德·特朗普，”他补充道。“他们会尊重他们说‘亚美尼亚发生了种族灭绝，埃尔多安先生，你必须开始接受这一点’，就像美国已经接受了在其他国家做的很多事情一样。”
该决议被视为对土耳其10月入侵叙利亚东北部的指责，特朗普突然下令该地区的美国军队撤出与叙利亚民主力量结盟的阵地。
美国国会议员也与土耳其在购买美国国债的问题上存在分歧俄罗斯防空系统尽管遭到华盛顿和其他北约盟国的抗议，该公司还是购买了该产品。
但是克里柯里安说，“具有讽刺意味的是，俄罗斯——土耳其与俄罗斯的关系越来越密切——从未对使用‘亚美尼亚种族灭绝’这个词感到不安，现在仍然如此。”
特朗普因其对土耳其入侵叙利亚的不稳定反应而受到广泛批评。土耳其入侵叙利亚导致与美国结盟的自卫队放弃单独与土耳其作战，并帮助数十名被俘的伊斯兰国战士逃离自卫队拘留。
一些批评家——包括前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿——曾暗示特朗普不想对抗埃尔多安，因为他在土耳其的金融利益。
克里柯里安说:“我认为唐纳德·特朗普在土耳其和埃尔多安有一些利益，他正试图保护这些利益。”。“这完全没有逻辑意义。”
埃罗格的部队被指控在土耳其入侵叙利亚期间犯有种族清洗和一系列战争罪。克里柯里安警告说，安抚这个强人只会让解决他糟糕的人权记录变得更加困难。
克里柯里安说:“参议员、众议员和美国人都知道亚美尼亚发生了种族灭绝。”。“这场辩论已经结束了很长时间，这只是政府是否会像罗纳德·里根那样正确使用这个词的问题。”
新泽西参议员鲍勃·梅嫩德斯是该法案的提案人。在发送给新闻周刊他说他“不会放弃羞辱那些坚持站在历史错误一边的人”梅嫩德斯说，这一暴行“是一个令人震惊的事实，永远不应该否认。”
他继续说，“虽然不奇怪，但我仍然深感失望的是，特朗普总统和庞贝部长尚未在这个问题上找到他们的道德指南针，他们坚持允许土耳其对我们自己的国内决定拥有否决权。”
“现在是这个国家认识到真相的时候了，”他补充道。“我们必须纪念那些在亚美尼亚种族灭绝中丧生的人，记住他们是如何死去的，并保证改变历史对他们死亡的记忆。”
特朗普政府没有回应新闻周刊以及白宫未能通过该决议。
土耳其驻华盛顿大使馆告诉记者新闻周刊通过电子邮件称“关于1915年事件的指控并不基于法律和历史事实”
因此，大使馆称土耳其“反对试图对其历史做出判断的所有立法步骤和其他官方行为”。这个问题应该留给历史学家来解决。”
大使馆指出，土耳其和亚美尼亚已同意成立一个“联合历史委员会”调查暴行，但声称亚美尼亚没有履行其义务。不管怎样，大使馆称土耳其已经“向所有希望研究指控真相的历史学家开放了档案”
大使馆还警告说，“美国国会通过的决议不会促进土耳其人和亚美尼亚人之间的和解努力，因为它们为亚美尼亚人继续顽固立场提供了借口。”
“此外，这些片面和政治化的决议也毒化了土耳其和美国之间的政治环境，特别是在区域和国际事态发展比以往任何时候都更需要两国之间的广泛协作与合作的时候。”
TRUMP IS ALLOWING TURKEY'S ERDOGAN A VETO ON U.S. POLICY, SENATOR SAYS AS WHITE HOUSE FAILS TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
President Donald Trump's administration is undermining America's reputation on human rights by refusing to adopt a Congress-approved resolution officially acknowledging the Armenian genocide, an advocacy group has said.
Last week, the Senate passed a resolution expressing "official recognition and remembrance" of the 20th century massacre, perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire but still denied by Turkey today. The House passed an identical resolution in October.
But the White House has not taken up the resolution, prompting condemnation from lawmakers and Armenian Americans, who accuse Trump of prioritizing his administration's ties with Turkey over human rights and genocide remembrance.
Earlier this week, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said the Trump administration's position "has not changed," according to the Associated Press. "Our views are reflected in the president's definitive statement on this issue from last April."
Then, Trump issued a statement marking Armenian Remembrance Day, honoring "the memory of those who suffered in one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century." Trump's statement did not use the word "genocide," in line with established U.S. policy.
But according to Van Krikorian, the co-chair of the Armenian Assembly of America, the White House is still not doing enough to recognize the genocide, which killed more than 1 million people from 1915 to 1923.
Krikorian told Newsweek that the administration did not fight the resolution in either the House or the Senate, yet has failed to give it its final approval.
"It's very frustrating to have an administration that still won't affirm the U.S. record and do the right thing," he said.
President Ronald Reagan acknowledged the genocide in 1981, but subsequent presidents have avoided using the phrase for fear of alienating America's Turkish allies.
The massacre occurred during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, as hundreds of thousands of Armenians were forcibly relocated to the deserts of Syria and elsewhere. Victims were either killed or died from starvation and exhaustion.
Turkey denies there was a genocide and disputes the number of Armenians killed. The country's governments have argued that those who did die did so while fighting Ottoman forces.
Krikorian suggested the administration was dragging its feet to avoid conflict with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Erdogan is such an unpredictable and dangerous person—we've had, in the past, them threaten American lives," he explained. "So maybe they did that in an effort to calm him down a little bit."
But Krikorian said the inaction contributes to a feeling that Turkey "can push the Trump administration" around.
"Erdogan doesn't respect Donald Trump," he added. "They would respect them for saying, 'There was an Armenian genocide, and Mr. Erdogan you have to start coming to terms with that,' just like the United States has come to terms with a lot of things done in other countries."
The resolution has been taken as a rebuke over Turkey's October invasion of northeastern Syria, facilitated by Trump's abrupt order to U.S. troops in the area to withdraw from positions alongside allied Syrian Democratic Forces.
U.S. lawmakers are also at odds with Turkey over its purchase of a Russian anti-aircraft system, which it bought despite protests from Washington and other NATO allies.
But Krikorian said it "is deeply ironic that Russia—with which Turkey has grown so much closer—has never had qualms about using the term 'Armenian genocide,' and still doesn't."
Trump has been widely criticized for his erratic response to Turkey's invasion of Syria, which saw the U.S.-allied SDF abandoned to fight Turkey alone and helped dozens of captured Islamic State fighters escape SDF detention.
Some critics—including former National Security Advisor John Bolton—have suggested that Trump did not want to stand up to Erdogan due to his financial interests in Turkey.
"I think Donald Trump has some interests in Turkey and with Erdogan that he is trying to protect," Krikorian said. "It just doesn't make logical sense."
Erodgan's forces have been accused of ethnic cleansing and a wide range of war crimes in Turkey's Syria incursions. Krikorian warned that appeasing the strongman will only make it harder to address his poor record on human rights.
"Senators and congressmen and Americans know there was an Armenian genocide," Krikorian said. "That debate has been over for a really long time, it's just a question of whether the administration will correctly use the term as Ronald Reagan did or not."
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez was a sponsor of the bill. In a statement sent to Newsweek, he said he would "not back away from shaming those who insist on being on the wrong side of history." Menendez said the atrocity "was a horrifying factual reality that should never be denied."
He continued, "While not surprising, I am still deeply disappointed that both President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have yet to find their moral compass on this issue, and that they insist on allowing Turkey to have a veto on our own domestic decision."
"It's time for this nation to recognize the truth," he added. "We must honor those who lost their lives in the Armenian genocide, remember how they died and pledge ourselves to change the way history remembers their deaths."
The Trump administration did not respond to Newsweek's request for comment on the resolution and the White House's failure to adopt it.
The Turkish embassy in Washington D.C. told Newsweek by email that "allegations with regard to the events of 1915 do not rest on legal and historical facts."
As such, the embassy said Turkey "opposes all legislative steps and other official acts that try to render judgment on its history. This issue should be left to the historians."
The embassy noted that Turkey and Armenia had agreed to establish a "Joint Historical Commission" to investigate the atrocities, but claimed Armenia did not fulfil its obligations. Regardless, the embassy said Turkey had "opened its archives for all historians, who wish to research the truth about the allegations."
The embassy also warned, "The resolutions adopted by the U.S. Congress will not facilitate the reconciliation efforts between Turks and Armenians, as they provide a pretext for the continuation of the intransigent Armenian position."
"Furthermore, these one-sided and politicized resolutions poison the political environment between Turkey and the United States as well, in particular at a time when regional and international developments require extensive collaboration and cooperation between two countries more than ever before."
