Why Won’t the United States Recognize the “Armenian Genocide”? Blame Geopolitics

Both the United States and Israel refuse to say the words “Armenian Genocide.” Is this because they doubt whether the killings constitute a “genocide” or because of deference to Turkey, a crucial ally in the Middle East?

Last month, on the 24th of April, Armenians around the globe commemorated the tragedy faced by their ancestors almost 100 years ago in 1915. There was public outcry because President Donald Trump did not use the word ‘genocide’ in his statement on that day. He mentioned the atrocities that occurred and stated that it was a “dark chapter of human history” but nowhere is the mention of the term ‘genocide’. This should come as no surprise; former President Barack Obama similarly failed to utter the word for the entire eight years of his presidency, even though he promised he would while running for office.

The explanation for this is simple: Turkey is a key ally for the United States in the Middle East, and Turkey’s cooperation is crucial for American operations in Syria from the Incirlik U.S. Air Force Base located near the Syrian border.

Another country that astonishingly does not recognize the events of 1915 as a genocide is Israel. This is rather ironic given that there are few other peoples who can empathize more with the horrors of ethnic cleansing than the Jewish people. This is because Israel prioritizes military ties with Turkey and economic ties with Azerbaijan over the recognition of these terrible events. Turkey is a key military ally in the region, while Azerbaijan and Armenia have been in conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region since 1988. Israel imports forty percent of its oil from Azerbaijan in exchange for weapons and defense systems.