House overwhelmingly passes resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide

The House voted 405-11 on Tuesday to pass legislation formally recognizing the 1915 Armenian genocide.

The Ottoman Empire killed an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, and the resolution officially designates this a genocide. Turkey has long denied that a genocide occurred, and the country's foreign minister, Mevlüt Cavusoglu, called the resolution "an attempt to rewrite history" and a "meaningless political step."

Earlier in the day, the House voted 403-16 to impose economic sanctions against Turkey, two weeks after the country invaded Syria to assault Kurdish forces. Turkey was able to easily cross the border after President Trump moved U.S. troops out of the way following a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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Prior to the vote on recognizing the genocide, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, "If we ignore history, then we are destined to witness the mistakes of the past be repeated. Recent attacks by the Turkish military against the Kurdish people are a stark reminder of the danger in our own time."