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Turkey said it has summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest President Joe Biden’s recognition of the mass killing of Armenians in the early 20th century as genocide. It warned the decision has left a “deep wound” in relations between the two NATO allies.
Biden’s declaration Saturday that the 1915 massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide has sparked outrage in Ankara.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu said he “entirely rejects” the U.S. move.
“Words cannot change or rewrite history. We don’t have lessons to take from anyone on our history, ” he tweeted in reaction to Biden’s statement.
The Turkish foreign ministry later summoned U.S. Ambassador David Satterfield to convey the country’s reaction, stating that Biden’s decision caused “a wound in relations that is difficult to repair,” according to the Anadolu state news agency.
A foreign ministry statement said Biden’s announcement was a “grave mistake” that “undermines our mutual trust and friendship.”
Although Ronald Reagan had referred to the killings as genocide, Biden became the first U.S. president to formally recognize the massacre as such, when he said Americans honor “all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today.”
Armenia’s foreign affairs ministry welcomed Biden’s comments. “The message of the U.S. President continues this strong American tradition of standing by truth and justice,” it said in a statement.
The decision comes among continuing tensions in the region. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced today that he was resigning to clear the way for new parliamentary elections. He has been facing calls for months from army officers to step down over defeat in last year’s war with Azerbaijan.
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