US President Joe Biden said today, Saturday, that the year 1915 witnessed a "genocide" of Armenians during the Ottoman era, stressing that mentioning these events is not aimed at blaming, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quick to denounce what he described as the politicization of the controversy on this issue by third parties.
"Americans honor all the Armenians who died in the genocide (that took place) 106 years ago," Biden said in a statement.
Biden added, "We mentioned what the Armenians were subjected to, whose aim is to ensure that what happened will not be repeated and not to be blamed."
For his part, Erdogan condemned what he described as the politicization of the debate over the genocide against the Armenians by third parties, and said, "We will not allow the culture of coexistence between Turks and Armenians to disappear."
Fakhruddin Altun, head of the Turkish Presidency's Communication Department, said, "We strongly reject and condemn the Biden administration's description of the events of 1915 as genocide."
In turn, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a tweet, "There is nothing to learn from anyone about our history. Political opportunism is the greatest betrayal of peace and justice ... We totally reject this statement which was based on populism only."
US President Biden describes what the Armenians were subjected to during the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
(The statement does not contain any formulation indicating the official recognition of the classification of what happened as genocide. Previously, US President Reagan or used the term genocide against Armenians in the statement in 1981) pic.twitter.com/Ne0TG4henQ
- Fadi Mansour (@ FadiMansour77) April 24, 2021
An American official, who refused to reveal her name, told the French press that the advertisement is "a tribute to the victims, not to blame anyone."
Reuters also quoted a senior official in the Biden administration, on condition of anonymity, that the president's statement aims to honor the victims and not to press charges, stressing that Washington still considers Ankara an important partner in NATO.
He added that the first telephone conversation between the US and Turkish presidents, which took place on Friday, was "professional" and "frank," and that Biden told Erdogan during the call that he intended to issue a declaration in this regard.
The White House announced yesterday that the two presidents agreed during the call to hold a meeting between them during the upcoming June NATO summit in Brussels to discuss bilateral and regional issues.
The US presidency added in a statement yesterday that Biden expressed during the phone call his interest in establishing constructive bilateral relations, with expanded areas of cooperation between their two countries, and effective management of differences between the two sides.
The US State Department spoke yesterday about an announcement expected today, Saturday, on the Armenian issue, which is one of the points of contention between the West and Ankara.