Turkey calls US ambassador after Armenian ‘genocide’ declaration Joe Biden News

Turkey has condemned the statement by US President Joe Biden, saying it opens “a wound that is difficult to fix in our relations”.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has called on the US ambassador to Ankara to protest against the decision by the US President Joe Biden to mark the deportation and killing of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire as “genocide”.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal met with David Satterfield on Saturday to express his firm condemnation of Ankara.

“The statement has no legal basis for international law and has hurt the Turkish people, opening a wound that is difficult to fix in our relations,” the ministry said.

On Saturday, Biden continued his campaign commitment recognize The events began in 1915 and killed approximately 1.5 million Armenian Ottomans as genocide.

The statement was carefully crafted to say that the deportations, massacres and death marches took place in the Ottoman Empire.

“We see that pain. We confirm history. We are not to blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated, ”he said.

The White House’s proclamation immediately sparked the disapproval of Turkish officials, although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not yet addressed the issue.

“The nature of the events of 1915 does not change according to current political reasons of politicians or domestic political considerations. This attitude is only a matter of ordinary distortion of history, ”the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also tweeted: “We have nothing to learn from anyone in our past.”

Turkey condemns the use of the word, saying that Turks and Armenians were killed in the fighting during World War I, and has called for a joint commission on history to be investigated.

It has been years since U.S. presidents avoided using “genocide” to describe what Armenians call Meds Yeghern or the Great Crime.

“Words cannot change or rewrite history.”

We have learned nothing in our past. Political opportunism is the greatest betrayal of peace and justice.

We completely reject this statement based on populism.# 1915Events

– Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) April 24, 2021

The announcement came as Turkish-American relations became increasingly strained. The U.S. punished Turkish defense officials and expelled Turkey from an aircraft program after NATO members bought Russia’s S400 missile defense system.

Ankara has thwarted the support of Syrian Kurdish fighters linked to a Kurdish armed group that Washington has fought against the Turkish state for decades. Turkey has also demanded the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish clergyman accused of directing a bloody coup attempt against Erdogan’s government in 2016. Gulen lives in the US and denies involvement.

Erdogan and Biden spoke on the phone for the first time since Friday’s U.S. election.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin wrote a tweet on Sunday: “President Erdogan opened the national archives of Turkey and called for a joint historical commission to investigate the events of 1915, which Armenia never responded to. and irresponsibility and unprincipled behavior. “