The issue of the Armenian Genocide was discussed at the meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the nuclear summit in Seoul.

In particular, Erdogan complained to Obama about Turkey being tired of the Genocide problem.

“I told Obama that we are tired. Every year in April we face the same problem, whether Republicans come [to power] or Democrats, the issue remains the same. I showed him the steps we had taken, brought Akhtamar as an example,” Erdogan voiced his “discontent”, referring to the reconstruction of the medieval Armenian church in the Van lake island of Akhtamar in 2010, and the permission to Armenian Christians to hold liturgies there once a year. Following the reconstruction, the Turkish government turned the church into a museum.

The Turkish PM also“called” on Obama “not to mistake U.S. senators, lawmakers and politicians for historians”.

On March 20, U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) introduced legislation, S.Res.399, calling upon the U.S. government to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide and to use the lessons of this atrocity to prevent future crimes against humanity.

“It is time for the United States to join the nineteen nations including Belgium, Canada, France, Italy and the European Union that have formally recognized the actions carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923 as genocide,” Senator Menendez said. “The Armenian Genocide is a historical fact and was one of the incidents upon which the Genocide Convention was predicated. Only by accurately acknowledging the crimes of the past can we ever hope to move forward in a legitimate manner and prevent such human rights crimes from happening in the future.”

“The Armenian Genocide is well-documented and formally recognized by 11 NATO allies and the European Union. This resolution accurately characterizes the events of 1915-1923 as a genocide, honors the memory of the victims, and strengthens America’s moral leadership on human rights and the prevention of mass atrocities around the world,” said a spokesman for Senator Kirk.