The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide in Turkey despite three previous attempts from the White House to block the measure. The White House directed several senators to block the resolution in recent weeks, as it would be likely to anger Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but co-sponsors of the resolution Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) succeeded Thursday. “I say to my friends and colleagues that genocide is genocide,’’ Menendez said on the Senate floor. “Senators in this body should have the simple courage to say it plainly, say it clearly, and say it without reservation.’’ Cruz called the passage “an achievement for truth, an achievement for speaking the truth to darkness, for speaking the truth to evil.” Politico reports that the Senate also advanced sanctions on Turkey Wednesday, which could threaten President Trump’s relationship with Erdogan, as Erdogan previously condemned a similar Armenian genocide measure passed by the House last month.