“Today, we pause to remember the lives lost during the Meds Yeghern -- the Armenian genocide -- and renew our pledge to never forget,” Biden said in a statement issued on the 109th anniversary of the start of the genocide.
“The campaign of cruelty began on April 24, 1915, when Ottoman authorities arrested Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. In the days, months, and years that followed, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths -- leaving families forever broken, and generations forever changed.”
“As we mourn this tragedy, we also honor the resilience of the Armenian people. After enduring one of the darkest chapters in human history, survivors began forging a better future for our world. With courage and commitment, they rebuilt their lives. They preserved their culture. They strengthened the fabric of nations around the world -- including our own,” added the statement.
Biden has repeatedly issued similar statements since taking office in 2021, breaking with his predecessors’ policy of not using the word “genocide” for fear of antagonizing Turkey. They have prompted strong criticism from Turkey. Ankara has also denounced other Western nations for recognizing the Armenian genocide.
“We reject the one-sided statements about the events of 1915 that have been made to satisfy certain radical circles,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said later on Wednesday. “These statements, which distort the historical facts, are also contrary to international law.”
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate unanimously passed genocide resolutions in 2019 after decades of lobbying by Armenian-American advocacy groups. One of them, the Armenian Assembly of America, thanked Biden for again honoring a key election campaign pledge given to the Armenian community of the United States.
At the same time, the Assembly criticized Washington’s response to what it called Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s efforts to “continue genocide against indigenous Armenians, their churches and culture.” Its two co-chairs, Van Krikorian and Anthony Barsamian, singled out last September’s Azerbaijani military offensive that forced Nagorno-Karabakh’s entire population to flee the region.
“Painfully, the Biden Administration and too many other governments have failed to meet obligations to prevent genocide and continue to apply double standards, enabling this ‘Problem from Hell’ to spread,” they said in a joint statement. They urged the administration to provide military aid to Armenia and help ensure the Karabakh Armenians’ safe return to their homeland.