Over many years, because of the fear of alienating Turkey, diplomats have been told to avoid mentioning the document on Armenian Genocide, said former US ambassador to UN Samantha Power in an article published on NYT. 

According to her, this resolution matters hugely to Armenian-Americans.

"But it is also a reminder of how important truth-telling is to American foreign policy, and how ultimately self-defeating it is for the United States to bend to autocratic pressure tactics, whether from Turkey or anywhere else,” she said.

As the ambassador noted, Washington officials must be empowered to tell the truth.

“Over many years, because of the fear of alienating Turkey, diplomats have been told to avoid mentioning the well-documented genocide. In 2005, when John Evans, the American ambassador to Armenia, said that “the Armenian genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century,” he was recalled and forced into early retirement. Stating the truth was seen as an act of insubordination,” she said. “When I became ambassador to the United Nations in 2013, I worried that I would be asked about the Armenian genocide and that when I affirmed the historical facts, I could cause a diplomatic rupture.”

She noted that Turkey has far more to lose than the US in the relationship.

“The United States helped build up Turkey’s military, brought it into NATO and led the coalition that defeated the Islamic State, which carried out dozens of attacks on Turkish soil. Over the past five years, American companies have invested some $20 billion in Turkey,” she added. “If Mr. Erdogan turns further away from a relationship that has been immensely beneficial for Turkey in favor of deepening ties with Russia or China, it will not be because the House voted to recognize the Armenian genocide. It will be because his own repressive tactics are coming to resemble those of the Russian and Chinese leaders.”

The House vote was overdue. Now the Senate, and President Trump, should follow suit, she said concluding: “The facts of what occurred a century ago demand it.”