Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez on Monday, December 19 called out Turkey for arming Azerbaijan and enabling the massacre of innocent Armenians.

The Senator who has been accused by Erdogan as an enemy of Turkey said his stance will not make him many friends in Ankara.

“But if standing up to human rights abuses makes me an enemy of Erdogan – if calling out Turkey for arming Azerbaijan and enabling the massacre of innocent Armenian civilians makes me an enemy of Erdogan – if demanding Turkey recognize Greek and Cypriot sovereignty makes me an enemy of Erdogan – then it is a badge I will wear with honor,” he added.

Menendez said Erdogan’s government continues to try and hide the truth about the Armenian Genocide, prosecuting writers and historians. In 2008 one of the journalists who wrote about the genocide was assassinated on the streets of Istanbul.

“As violent as Erdogan’s tenure has been at home, his foreign policy has been absolutely awful,” the Senator said.

“On the eve of Baku’s War in Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey sold Azerbaijan 77 million dollars of military equipment that was used to attack innocent Armenians.”

Erdogan warned earlier that Turkish missiles could hit Athens if its neighbor doesn’t “stay calm.”