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“The systematic killing and deportation of more than a million Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century was ‘genocide,’ the United States formally declared on Saturday… While previous presidents have offered somber reflections of the dark moment in history, they have studiously avoided using the term genocide out of concern that it would complicate relations with Turkey, a NATO ally and important power in the Middle East.” (AP News)
Both sides applaud Biden’s decision:
“There is no historical question of whether these atrocities happened… Based in present-day Turkey, the Ottoman Empire undertook a mass campaign of murder against Armenians, as well as Assyrians and Greeks, starting on April 24, 1915, running for eight years. Historians estimate 1.5 million Armenians died. It was no secret either. The New York Times wrote 145 articles in 1915 alone about the massacres…
“The U.S. government knew as well. U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau documented the brutal violence he witnessed when traveling the Ottoman Empire's countryside. Morgenthau's memoirs described the plans of Turkish authorities as ‘giving the death warrant to a whole race; they understood this well, and in their conversations with me, they made no particular attempt to conceal the fact.’” (Knox Thames, Newsweek)
“The massacre of an estimated 1.5 million ethnic Armenians by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923 has been recognized by both houses of Congress and 30 countries as a genocide… “Concerns that this American recognition would alienate Turkey, the modern successor state to the Ottoman Empire, which to this day has rejected the genocide label, are misguided. Recognizing history isn't an act of aggression, it's a witnessing of facts. Moreover, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey is an authoritarian state that persecutes Kurds in Turkey and Syria, in addition to committing other human rights violations. This includes Turkey's inauspicious position as a world leader in jailing journalists.”
(Jackson Richman, Washington Examiner)