“This is a clear message that genocide campaigns are not possible in the 21st century,” Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi tweeted on Friday, December 13.
“This decision will stop Turkey from committing massacres against the Kurdish people and stop its invasion of Rojava,” said Abdi, known as Mazloum Kobane.
The resolution was passed unanimously by the US Senate on Thursday, in a historic move that has enraged Turkey and dealt a blow to the already fragile ties between the NATO allies, Reuters reported earlier.
It asserts that it is US policy to commemorate as genocide the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. The Ottoman Empire was centered in present-day Turkey.
Ankara has condemned the move and said it was null and void, accusing US lawmakers of politicizing history.
It is up to the Trump administration to decide whether it will act in accordance with the resolution.
On Friday, the US Embassy in Turkey tweeted out a white House statement released on “Armenian Remembrance Day” in April, which does not mention the word genocide.
“Regarding yesterday’s Senate resolution, as we stated to the press earlier today, the Administration’s position has not changed,” the tweet said.
Turkey and the United States have been at odds over a number of issues including their disagreements on the Syrian civil war and Ankara’s purchase of Russian weapons that Washington says is not compatible with US and NATO systems.
Reporter's code: 50101