WASHINGTON – President Biden is poised to formally declare that the massacres of Armenians in the early 20th century constituted genocide, US officials said, a rare move that would further rekindle ties with Turkey.
Mr Biden is expected to describe the deportation, starvation and massacres of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks from 1915 as genocide, officials said.
The language would come as part of an annual statement to coincide with a memorial day on Saturday. Officials added that no final decisions or briefings have taken place and that Mr Biden could choose to issue the symbolic statement without describing the murders as genocide, as with other presidents.
Turkey denies the killings amounted to genocide and said Armenians were rebelling against the government. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Haberturk television on Tuesday that a statement by Mr Biden would only hurt the ties. A spokesman for the Turkish Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.
Most historians recognize the Ottoman Empire’s treatment of Armenians and members of other ethnic and religious minorities from 1915 to 1923 as a genocide.
Mr Biden’s presidential campaign said the month before the November elections that he “would recognize the Armenian Genocide and make universal human rights a top priority for his government so that such a tragedy can never occur again”.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that the government will have more to say on the matter on Saturday, but said it would not provide details at this point.
In recent years, ties between the US and Turkey, a fellow member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, have deteriorated due to Ankara’s takeover of Russia’s S-400 air defense system, as well as human rights and civil rights issues under President Recep Tayyip. Erdogan and Turkey’s Role in Various Regional Conflicts.
Armenian refugees around 1915.
Photo:
Pictures from History / The Image Works
Under pressure from Congress, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Turkish government agencies over the purchase of the S-400, which Pentagon officials say could be used to gather information about the F-35 stealth jet fighters that Turkey would buy. , and banned Ankara from participating in the US-led F-35 stealth jet fighter program.
Congress overwhelmingly passed non-binding resolutions in the House and Senate in 2019 calling the 1915 actions a genocide. A presidential statement has long been a priority of the sizeable Armenian-American community, which has thwarted Turkey’s lobbying efforts with their own.
If Mr Biden formally uses the term “genocide,” analysts said Ankara could respond by drawing attention to European settlers’ treatment of Native Americans; setting up a diplomatic protest; or, although more unlikely, deny the US use of the country’s Incirlik air base.
Turkey could also put up informal barriers to imports from the US, said Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and chairman of Edam, an Istanbul think tank. The response would likely take into account that many Turkish citizens share the government’s view of history, Mr Ulgen said.
“The Turkish people consider this page of history to be one where tragedies affected not only Armenians but also Turks affected by ethnic cleansing in the Balkans,” said Mr Ulgen.
The debate over language stems from the attempt during World War I to deport about 2 million Armenians from Turkey during the Young Turk era of the empire. It is estimated that about 1.5 million Armenians have died, while half a million have left their homes. A former Soviet state, present-day Armenia occupies only part of the traditional Armenian homeland in the Caucasus Mountains bordering Turkey.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
Is President Biden’s use of the genocide label worthwhile in US-Turkey relations? Why or why not? Join the conversation below.
Earlier, President Ronald Reagan, who began his political career among a large Armenian-American population in California, referred to the massacres as genocide in comments about the Holocaust and other atrocities. However, other presidents no longer use that terminology during their term in office.
Former President Donald Trump called the 1915 actions “one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century,” in a statement on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. A Trump White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany once mentioned an “Armenian Genocide memorial” during a press conference.
The Armenian Ambassador to the US, Varuzhan Nersesyan, told The Wall Street Journal that he hoped the White House in Biden would continue the genocide declaration.
The Executive Director of the Armenian Assembly of America, Bryan Ardouny, said that “confirmation of the Armenian Genocide by the US will not only increase America’s credibility on human rights issues, but also help prevent future genocides.”
Aram Suren Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, called on Mr. Biden to increase US support for Armenia, which he described as “ a landlocked, blocked state that has survived genocide and is facing ongoing attempts by Ankara and Baku to complete this. felony. “
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the US, Elin Suleymanov, said a proclamation of genocide from Washington “does not contribute to normalization between Armenia and Turkey,” including opening the closed border between Turkey and Armenia. “It won’t help in the region,” he said.
Write to William Mauldin at [email protected]
Copyright © 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8