Biden prepares to declare Armenian massacre “genocide”, risks breaking with Turkey

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Two people familiar with the decision said the president should make the statement as part of an official statement on commemoration, which falls on Saturday. Both said it was possible for him to change his mind by then and issue a statement acknowledging only the event without describing it as genocide.

U.S. officials have also sent signals to non-government allies pushing for a formal statement that the president will acknowledge the genocide, a third person familiar with the matter said.

The Turkish government often files complaints when foreign governments describe the event that began in 1915, using the word “genocide.” They claim that it was time for war and that there were losses on both sides and set the death toll at 300,000.

Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump both avoided using the word genocide to avoid upsetting Ankara.

But Biden has said that relations with Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – which have deteriorated in recent years anyway – should not prevent the use of a term that would validate the situation of Armenians more than a century ago and signal a commitment to human rights today.

The White House declined to comment on the decision when asked on Wednesday. Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the administration “will have more to say about the day of commemoration on Saturday.”

The United States and its presidents have consistently avoided using “genocide” to describe atrocities. But as a candidate, Biden said that if he were elected, “I pledge to support a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide and will make universal human rights an absolute priority for my administration.”

But similar promises have remained unfulfilled before. When Obama ran for president, he said in a lengthy statement that he shared with “American Armenians – many of whom are descendants of the genocide survivor – a commitment in principle to commemorate and end the genocide.”

But, like the presidents before him, the realities of diplomacy came with taking office. In all eight years of his presidency, Obama has avoided using “genocide” to commemorate the April event. With Turkey positioned as a key partner in the fight against ISIS terrorists, the problem seemed even less pleasant.
In 2019, the Senate passed a resolution officially recognizing the mass murder of Armenians from 1915 to 1923 as genocide. Prior to his passage, the Trump administration repeatedly asked Republican senators to block the unanimous consent request on the grounds that it could undermine negotiations with Turkey.
Trump has tried to cultivate a friendship with Erdoğan, even though relations between Washington and Ankara have worsened following Turkey’s acquisition of a Russian-made air defense system and alleged human rights abuses by Turkish-backed forces in Syria.

Biden has not spoken to Erdoğan since taking office, although the Turkish leader is expected to attend a climate summit of 40 world leaders, which Biden is convening on Thursday and Friday.

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