Intel: Trump administration distances itself from Congress’ recognition of Armenian genocide

The State Department is distancing itself from Congress’ decision to recognize the Ottoman Empire’s massacre of more than a million, mostly Christian Armenians as a genocide.

After the White House failed to thwart the Senate's effort to unanimously recognize the massacre as genocide on Dec. 12, the State Department released a terse statement today reiterating that the Donald Trump administration still does not believe the event qualifies as a genocide. The brief, unprompted statement does not refer to Armenia or to the title of the Senate resolution recognizing the genocide. Instead it simply refers to the legislation by number: Senate Resolution 150.

“The position of the administration has not changed,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. “Our views are reflected in the president’s definitive statement on this issue from last April.”

The April statement commemorated the 1.5 million Armenians who were “deported, massacred or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire,” but refrained from recognizing it as a genocide. Like every US president since Ronald Reagan, Trump has opted not to label the massacre as genocide for fear of alienating Turkey, which rejects the categorization.