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Officials: Biden preparing to recognize Armenian genocide
President Joe Biden walks off after speaking about COVID-19 vaccinations at the White House, Wednesday, April 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Published April 22. 2021 5:54AM
By MATTHEW LEE and AAMER MADHANI
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.
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US President Joe Biden walks off after speaking about COVID-19 vaccinations at the White House on April 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) US 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 US 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 US officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
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President Joe Biden is preparing to formally acknowledge that the systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire.
While former president Ronald Reagan made reference to the Armenian Genocide in a statement on the Holocaust in 1981, none of Mr Biden s predecessors designated the atrocities – in which it is estimated about 1.5 million Armenian civilians were killed – as genocide.
Former US presidents have used terms such as “mass killings” or “atrocities” to ascribe the systematic death of Armenians during the First World War.
Mr Biden’s statement would for the first time align the executive and legislative branches of the US government on the issue.
Congress overwhelmingly recognised the genocide in December 2019. Since then, members from both parties have urged the White House to follow suit.