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Turkey lobby goes to bat against Armenian genocide bill

Ankara and its allies are warning that this week’s vote would "poison" the already strained bilateral relationship.
Turkish Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilic speak to the Conference on U.S.-Turkey Relations in Washington, U.S., May 22, 2017.   REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RC11B326EB00

Ankara and its allies are warning Congress of the risk of “permanent negative resentment” between Turkey and the United States if House members go forward with plans to recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide this week.

On Friday, Turkish Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilic wrote to lawmakers to warn them that voting for the “biased” resolution would only add to the growing number of disputes between the two countries. The House Rules Committee is scheduled to take up the nonbinding resolution tonight, setting up a floor vote as early as Tuesday as lawmakers seek to punish Turkey for its intervention against the Kurds in Syria.

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