A Republican lawmaker on Thursday blocked a U.S. Senate resolution recognizing the 1915 events as "Armenian genocide," the second time in a week.
Senator David Perdue prevented a bipartisan effort to pass the resolution by unanimous consent, arguing that its passage during a sensitive period "would undermine the administration's commitment to overcoming real challenges in our bilateral relationship with Turkey."
The move angered Senate Democrat Robert Menendez, whose effort had been rebuffed the previous week after Republican lawmakers met with visiting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
"It is amazing to me that the greatest superpower on the face of the earth just can't speak truth of history," Menendez fumed.
"I'm not going to relent," he said.
Turkish officials have condemned the House resolution, while Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador David Satterfield to express Ankara's strong opposition to the bill.
Turkey objects to the presentation of the 1915 incidents as a "genocide," rather calling them a tragedy in which both Turks and Armenians suffered casualties in the heat of World War I.
Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia under the supervision of international experts to examine the issue.
