Biden prepares to declare Armenian massacre ‘genocide’ and risks rupture with Turkey

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Two people familiar with the decision said the president should make the statement as part of an official statement on Remembrance Day, which falls on Saturday. Both said it was possible that before then he would change his mind and issue a statement merely acknowledging the event without describing it as genocide.

US officials have also sent signals to allies outside the government pushing for an official statement that the president will recognize the genocide, a third person familiar with the matter said.

The government of Turkey often files complaints when foreign governments use the word ‘genocide’ to describe the event, which began in 1915. They claim it was war and there were losses on both sides, and they put the number of dead Armenians at 300,000.

Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump both avoided using the word genocide in order not to anger Ankara.

But Biden has determined that relations with Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – which have deteriorated in recent years anyway – should not prevent a term from being used that would validate the plight of Armenians over a century ago and signal a commitment to human rights today.

The White House declined to comment on the decision on Wednesday. Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the government “would have more to say on Saturday’s Remembrance Day.”

The United States and its presidents have consistently avoided using “genocide” to describe the atrocity. But as a candidate, Biden said that if he was elected, “I pledge to support a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide and making universal human rights a top priority for my government.”

But similar commitments have not been fulfilled before. When Obama ran for president, he stated in a lengthy statement that he “shared with Armenian Americans – so many of whom are descended from genocide survivors – a principled commitment to commemorate and end genocide.”

But like the presidents before him, the reality of diplomacy intervened as soon as he took office. For all eight years of his presidency, Obama avoided the use of “genocide” to commemorate the April event. With Turkey positioned as a key partner in the fight against ISIS terrorists, the issue seemed even less palatable.
In 2019, the Senate passed a resolution formally recognizing the mass murders of Armenians from 1915 to 1923 as genocide. Prior to the passage, the Trump administration had asked Republican senators to block the unanimous consent request several times because it could undermine negotiations with Turkey.
Trump tried to cultivate a friendship with Erdoğan even as relations between Washington and Ankara were weakened by Turkey’s purchase of a Russian air defense system and alleged human rights violations by Turkey-backed forces in Syria.

Biden has not spoken to Erdoğan since taking office, although the Turkish leader is expected to participate in a climate summit of 40 world leaders that Biden convenes Thursday and Friday.

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