US Rep. Judge Ted Poe called on the U.S. government to official recognize the Armenian Genocide.

American National Committee of Armenia – ANCA-DC tweeted about US Rep. Judge Ted Poe giving a speech that condemns the Armenian Genocide and calls for the U.S. government to officially recognize it. In his speech he says:

“More than a century ago one of the most horrific genocides in history took place as the world was fixated on the Great war raging in Europe. The Ottoman Empire and its successor state – the modern Republic of Turkey, have always denied the atrocities they committed against the Armenian people. For too long our own government has played along with Turkey. We have allowed politics to blind us from the mass murder of 1.5 million innocent Armenians by the Ottoman Turks.

We must officially recognize this horrific crime to prevent similar events from occurring again. This also means pressuring the Turks to acknowledge their past sins. Turkey under dictator Erdogan has proven to be an oppressor of his own people. And today we see him adopt similar brutality against the Turks that was applied to the Armenians over a century ago. This behavior is unacceptable by a NATO member and a supposed American ally. And that’s just the way it is”.