82 lawmakers write Obama, urging recognition of Armenian genocide

82 lawmakers from both parties wrote President Obama on Friday, urging him to recognize the Armenian genocide and focus on normalizing relations between Turkey and Armenia.

The lawmakers — led by Reps. George Radanovich (R-Calif.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — asked the president to refocus himself on his campaign promise to recognize the genocide.

“We write to you with our concerns about Turkish backpedaling on the agreed upon roadmap to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia,” the lawmakers said in their letter.

“While the Government of Armenia remains committed to this roadmap and has long offered to establish ties with Turkey without preconditions, Turkey’s public statements and actions since April 24th stand in sharp contrast to this agreement and undermine U.S. policy that normalization take place without preconditions,” they added.

Schiff had introduced legislation earlier this year to officially label the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917 as “genocide.”

“We hope that renewed efforts and focused resources from the Administration can be utilized to nurture the Armenia-Turkey normalization process without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe, and continue to remain strongly supportive of your stated campaign policy to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide,” the lawmakers said.