The Turkish foreign ministry denounced President Joe Biden’s decision to classify the mass killings perpetrated against the Armenian people as a genocide, saying it was a setback to U.S.-Turkish relations.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Biden’s decision represented a “vulgar distortion of history” that would be “polarizing the nations and hindering peace and stability in our region” in a statement on Saturday.
“It is clear that the said statement does not have a scholarly and legal basis, nor is it supported by any evidence. With regards to the events of 1915, none of the conditions required for the use of the term “genocide” that is strictly defined in international law are met,” the statement read.
BIDEN RECOGNIZES MASS KILLINGS AGAINST ARMENIANS AS GENOCIDE
The foreign ministry argued that Turkey had invited Armenia to join “a Joint History Commission in order to reach a just memory in the light of historical facts of that period,” an offer that Armenia has not acknowledged.
“In this respect, the statement made by the President of the US, who is neither legally nor morally authorized to judge historical matters, has no value,” the statement continued, calling on Biden “to correct this grave mistake, which serves no purpose other than to satisfy certain political circles and to support the efforts aiming to establish a practice of peaceful coexistence in the region.”
Earlier on Saturday, which was celebrated worldwide as Armenian Remembrance Day, Biden recognized the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as a genocide.
“We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history,” the president said in a statement. “And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.”
In the early 20th century, the Ottoman Turks attempted to expel Armenians from Eastern Anatolia, banishing them to the Syrian desert while predominantly targeting Christians. Biden did not mention the word “Christian” in his statement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously alluded to the fact that such a declaration could harm U.S.-Turkish relations.
Others were dismissive of Turkey’s planned disapproval, saying the warnings were in keeping with Erdogan’s pattern of retaliation.
“In most cases, you know, Turkey has an immediate very vocal reaction — it recalls its ambassador to these countries, threatens various forms of retaliation, but from the long term, relations bounce back to where they were,” former Turkish opposition lawmaker Aykan Erdemir, who leads the Turkey program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said. “My guess is it won’t be too different this time around.”
A prominent Armenian American activist agreed.
“They usually withdraw an ambassador,” Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian said Thursday. “That’s usually the first step.”
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But Erdemir predicted that the statement of condemnation from the United States wouldn’t hurt U.S.-Turkish relations too much.
“This will be a really welcome distraction for Erdogan, meaning he will finally have a chance to stop responding to opposition criticism about economic mismanagement and corruption,” he said. “This actually is one which would help Erdogan weather the next month or two. But beyond that, as I say, it’s back to business as usual. U.S.-Turkish relations will have to deal with a long list of disagreements.”
