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U.S. lawmakers push for recognition of "Armenian genocide"

Xinhua, March 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

More than 40 U.S. lawmakers introduced a resolution on Wednesday once again calling for the recognition as "genocide" of the massacre of some 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks starting in 1915.

The nonbinding measure passed at the House of Representatives urged President Barack Obama to help restore Armenian-Turkish relations "based upon the Republic of Turkey's full acknowledgment of the facts and ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide."

The Armenians said over 1.5 million of their forebears were killed in 1915 and 1916 by the army of Ottoman Empire in a " genocide." Turkey, which does not deny that many Armenians died in clashes, disputed the number of deaths and objects to the use of " genocide" in describing the chapter.

Despite his 2008 campaign pledge, Obama had shunned the term of "genocide" in his past observances of what he called "one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century" in an effort not to anger a key NATO ally in a volatile region.

"We in Congress and the president have an opportunity and an obligation to send a strong message that we will never forget those who were lost, and we will call this crime against humanity what it was: genocide," said Rep. Adam Schiff, a lead sponsor of the bill.

The bill, the third in the House since 1975, came on the 100th anniversary of the massacre. The Turkish government has reportedly hired lobbyists to lobby on its behalf in U.S. Congress.

More than 20 countries and 43 U.S. states have officially recognized the Armenian genocide. Endite