Sources close to the matter told The New York Times that Biden is expected to make the announcement on Saturday, which would be the 106th anniversary of the start of a multi-year ethnic cleansing campaign that began during WWI and ended in 1922.
Biden would be the first U.S. President to recognize the actions against the Armenian people as a genocide, the Times notes, though former President Reagan made a reference to the genocide once in 1981 when discussing the Holocaust.
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As a presidential candidate last year, Biden had previously indicated his support for recognition, writing in a Medium post to commemorate Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day: “If we do not fully acknowledge, commemorate, and teach our children about genocide, the words ‘never again’ lose their meaning.
One possibility is that Biden would include the acknowledgement of genocide in the annual remembrance day proclamation typically issued by presidents. Biden’s predecessors have avoided using “genocide” in the proclamation commemorating the dark moment in history.
Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during the first world war, but contests the figures and denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide.
A bipartisan group of more than 100 House members on Wednesday signed a letter to Biden calling on him to become the first US president to formally recognize the atrocities as genocide.
Officials: Biden preparing to recognize Armenian genocide
By MATTHEW LEE and AAMER MADHANIApril 22, 2021 GMT
President Joe Biden walks off after speaking about COVID-19 vaccinations at the White House, Wedn.
President Joe Biden walks off after speaking about COVID-19 vaccinations at the White House, Wedn.
WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden is preparing to formally acknowledge that the systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in modern-day Turkey more than a century ago was genocide, according to U.S. officials.
The anticipated move something Biden had pledged to do as a candidate could further complicate an already tense relationship with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Administration officials had not informed Turkey as of Wednesday, and Biden could still change his mind, according to one official. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Turkey’s foreign minister has warned the Biden administration that recognition would “harm” U.S.-Turkey ties.
Biden as a candidate marked the remembrance day last year by pledging that if elected he would recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1923, saying “silence is complicity.” He did not offer a timeline for delivering on the promise.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday said the president would have more to say Saturday on this remembrance day.
The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal first reported that Biden is preparing to acknowledge the genocide.
Should Biden follow through, he’ll almost certainly face pushback from Turkey, which has successfully pressed previous presidents to sidestep the issue.
Turkish lira drops amid reports of Biden’s potential recognition of Armenian Genocide | ARMENPRESS Armenian News Agency
13:57, 22 April, 2021
YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. The Turkish lira dropped 2,2% against the dollar on April 22, following reports that US President Joe Biden is preparing to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide on April 24, the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, a move believed to further worsen the ties between the NATO allies. Ahval News reported that the lira fell by as much as 2.2 percent against the dollar on Thursday and it was trading down 1.7 percent at 8.31 per dollar at 10:43 a.m. local time in Istanbul.
The Turkish-American ties worsened over the recent years after Turkey purchased S-400 missile systems from Russia and launched a military operation against Kurds fighting alongside American troops against Islamic State (ISIS).