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The Turkish president says Biden’s announcement has opened a “deep wound” in bilateral relations between NATO allies.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced US President Joe Biden Recognition of the Armenian Genocide that it is “unfounded” and detrimental to bilateral ties.
Biden’s historic statement on Saturday at a ceremony to commemorate the tragic events of 1915-17 in Biden angered Turkey, a NATO ally of the United States, and said the announcement had opened a “deep wound” in already strained relations over a number of issues.
In a televised appearance on Monday, Erdogan said “wrong steps” would hinder ties and said Turkey was still trying to establish “good neighbors” for relations with Armenia.
“The U.S. president has made unfounded and unfair comments,” Erdogan said.
“We believe that these comments were included in the statement after pressure from Armenian radical groups and anti-Turkish circles. But this situation does not reduce the devastating impact of these comments.”
Armenians – aided by historians and scholars – said that 1.5 million of their people were killed in a “genocide” during World War I under the Ottoman Empire.
Ankara admits that many Armenians and Turks were killed when Ottoman forces fought against Tsarist Russia.
But Turkey passionately denies deliberate genocide policy and warns that the term was not legally defined at the time.
Biden had been trying to calm the Turkish anger since he took office, which he called Erdogan for the first time in January.
The two leaders agreed in a phone call on Friday to meet with a NATO summit in June.
But Erdogan said Monday that Biden should “look in the mirror” when calling the events of the century a genocide.
“Native Americans, I don’t even need to mention them, are clear on what happened,” he said, referring to the treatment of Native Americans by European settlers.
“While all these truths are out there, you can’t file a genocide charge against the Turks.”
Close relationships
Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, Washington, DC, said that “historically it has been about 40 years since successive presidents promised to do so and then they could know it for strategic interests when they were in office. It should not be for the good of the US.
“That dynamic has changed. The feeling in the US is that it is the result of Turkey’s actions, not the actions that led to the US declaration, ”Halket said.
He added that the US administration sees Turkey as a NATO partner, but believes that Turkey has not always claimed it.
Biden’s statement came at a time when attempts were being made to repair ties between Ankara and Washington when Turkey tightened. bought the S-400 missile defense system from Russiaas a result, there are U.S. sanctions, political differences in Syria, and legal issues.
Erdogan said he hoped to “open the door to a new era” in the links and discuss all conflicts with Biden at the NATO summit in June, but warned that the links would be further distorted unless allies share the issues.
“Now we need to put aside our disagreements and look at what steps we can take from here on out, otherwise we will have no choice but to do what the level of our ties required on April 24,” he said.
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