WASHINGTON (AP) – US President Joe Biden plans to keep an election promise on Saturday to officially recognize the atrocities committed by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian people more than a century ago in what is now Turkey US genocide officials were familiar with the president’s reasoning.
Biden spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday in anticipation of his plan to use the term genocide to denote the murders and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in a presidential proclamation to commemorate the Armenian Genocide Day to describe. US presidents have recognized Memorial Day marking the events of 1915-1923 for decades, but avoided using the term “genocide” to circumvent Turkey’s alienation.
The US government and the Turkish government failed to mention the American plan to recognize the Armenian genocide in separate statements following Friday’s call. The White House said Biden told Erdogan he wanted to improve relations between the two countries and find « effective management of disagreements ». The two also agreed to hold a bilateral meeting at the NATO summit in Brussels in June.
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As a candidate, Biden pledged to recognize the Armenian massacre as genocide, arguing that « silence is complicity ». Biden wanted to speak to Erdogan before proceeding with the formal recognition, according to the officials, who discussed Biden’s thoughts and plans on condition of anonymity.
The call between the two leaders on Friday was the first since Biden took office more than three months ago. The delay had become a worrying sign in Ankara; Erdogan had a good relationship with former President Donald Trump and had hoped for a reset despite previous friction with Biden.
Erdogan reiterated his longstanding claims on Friday that the US supports Kurdish fighters in Syria affiliated with the Iraq-based Kurdish Workers’ Party, the PKK. In recent years Turkey has launched military operations against PKK enclaves in northern Iraq and against US-allied Syrian-Kurdish fighters. The Foreign Ministry has described the PKK as a terrorist organization, but has argued with Turkey over the group’s relations with the Syrian Kurds.
Erdogan also expressed concerns about the presence in the US of cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accused of orchestrating a failed coup attempt in 2016, according to the Turkish government’s statement. Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s, denies participating in the coup.
Biden drew anger from Turkish officials during the election campaign after an interview with the New York Times in which he spoke about support for the Turkish opposition to the « autocrat » Erdogan. In 2019, Biden accused Trump of betraying U.S. allies after Trump decided to withdraw troops from northern Syria, paving the way for a Turkish military offensive against the Syrian Kurdish group. When he was Vice President in 2014, Biden apologized to Erdogan after suggesting in a speech that Turkey would contribute to the rise of the Islamic state group by allowing foreign fighters to cross the Turkish border into Syria.
Legislators and Armenian-American activists have campaigned for Biden to have the genocide announced on or before the day of the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, which presidents usually mark with a proclamation.
Salpi Ghazarian, director of the Armenian Studies Institute at the University of Southern California, said recognition of the genocide would resonate beyond Armenia as Biden insists that respect for human rights will be a central principle in his foreign policy.
« Inside and outside of the United States, America’s commitment to fundamental human values has been challenged for decades, » she said. “It is very important that the people of the world continue to have the hope and belief that America’s aspirations are still relevant and that we can actually do more than one thing at the same time. Indeed, we can continue trade and other relationships with countries while pointing out that a government cannot get away with murdering its own citizens. “
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned the Biden government earlier this week that recognition would“ damage ”US-Turkey relations.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki declined from commenting on Biden’s thoughts on the matter on Friday.
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