Representatives from the Republic of Armenia attended the Paris Peace Conference in hopes for gaining back the historic lands seized by Turkey. The European leaders responded to this request by asking the U.S. to assume guardianship of the new republic. President Woodrow Wilson attempted this, but the U.S. Congress rejected it in May, 1920. But Wilson didn’t give up. As a result of his efforts, the Allied Powers, the Republic of Armenia and the new moderate leaders of Turkey signed the Treaty of Serves on August 10, 1920. The treaty recognized an independent Armenian state comprising much of the former historic homeland.

However, a week later the new leader Mustafa Kemal, who refused to accept the treaty, overthrew the moderate Turkish leaders who signed the treaty. He even re-occupied the land in question and expelled any surviving Armenians. No allied powers came to the aide of the Armenian Republic and it collapsed. A small portion of the historic Armenia survived by being part of the Soviet Union.

On March 12, 1922, the Soviets joined Georgia, Armenia and Azerbajijan to form the Transcaucas Soviet Socialist Republic, which became part of the USSR. Since 1988, Armenia has been involved in a territorial dispute with Azerbajijan over Nagorno-Karabagh, to which both lay claim.

Armenia declared its independence from the collapsing Soviet Union on September 23, 1991.

H.Res.106 is the Armenian Genocide Bill that introduces the recognition of the Armenian Genocide to the United States. It states:

Calling upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes.

For several years, Armenians all around the world have been trying to get the Armenian Genocide Bill passed by the United States Government in order to recognize the cause. The main reason why it hasn’t been passed in the United States is because Turkey is its ally. The U.S. needs their military bases to keep bombing in that region and they need them to stay on their side. The main reason Turkey won’t recognize it is not only do they claim it didn’t happened, but all the land they took from Armenia will need to be restored that plays a huge part. Only time will tell.