Turkey opposes the comment by US President Joe Biden, saying it opens a wound that’s hard to repair in our ties. ‘
Turkey’s foreign ministry called on the U.S. ambassador in Ankara to protest U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to call the expulsion and killing of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire “genocide.”
Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal met with David Satterfield to condemn Ankara strongly.
“The statement has no legal basis in international law and has harmed the Turkish people, opening a wound that is hard to repair in our ties,” the ministry said.
On Saturday, Biden pursued a campaign promise to recognise the events that started in 1915, killing an estimated 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians as genocide.
The argument was carefully formulated to suggest the Ottoman Empire’s deportations, massacres, and death marches took place.
“We see pain. We’re affirming history. We do this not to blame, but to ensure that what happened is never repeated, “it said.
The White House proclamation prompted immediate condemnation statements by Turkish officials, although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has yet to address the subject.
“The essence of 1915 events does not alter according to politicians’ existing political agendas or domestic political concerns. Such an approach serves just a vulgar background distortion, “said Turkey’s foreign ministry on Saturday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also tweeted: “Our history has nothing to learn from anyone.”
Turkey opposes the use of the term, arguing that both Turks and Armenians were killed in the First World War fighting and called for a joint history commission to investigate.
American presidents have avoided using “genocide” for years to characterise what Armenians call Meds Yeghern, or Great Crime.
The announcement comes as Turkish-American relations are increasingly strained. The US approved Turkish defence officials and kicked Turkey off a fighter jet programme after NATO members purchased the Russian-made S400 missile defence system.
Ankara is angered by Washington’s funding of Syrian Kurdish rebels linked to a Kurdish armed group fighting the Turkish state for decades. Turkey also ordered the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric accused of a bloody coup attempt against Erdogan’s government in 2016. Gulen lives in the U.S., denying involvement.
Erdogan and Biden first talked on Friday’s phone after the US election.
Ibrahim Kalin, the president’s spokesman, tweeted Sunday: “President Erdogan opened the Turkish national archives and called for a joint historical committee to examine the events of 1915, to which Armenia never responded. It’s a shame that @POTUS has ignored this basic reality, among others, while playing a reckless and unprincipled role.
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