Biden recognizes the Armenian genocide and anger Erdoğan

US President Joe Biden abandoned decades of cautious diplomacy, calling the 1915 massacre of Armenians “genocide”.
The killings took place in the last days of the Ottoman Empire.
The massacres of Armenians are a very sensitive issue, with Turkey acknowledging atrocities but rejecting the term “genocide”.
A US official said the move was not meant to blame modern Turkey.
But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu tweeted that Ankara “will not take lessons from anyone regarding our history”.
“We remember the lives of all those who died in the Armenian genocide of the Ottoman era and we renew our commitment to preventing such atrocities from happening again,” Biden said in a statement issued as Armenia commemorates the mass killings by the Turks.
“We remember to remain ever vigilant against the destructive influence of all forms of hatred.”
Turkey summoned the US ambassador in Ankara, David M. Satterfield, after Biden’s statement. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said it had informed him that Biden’s announcement was unacceptable.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Biden’s statement “honored the memory” of those killed. “The United States has once again demonstrated their firm commitment to protect human rights and universal values,” he tweeted. He said this would provide relief to the victims’ grandchildren.
Armenia says that 1.5 million people were killed in 1915 and 1916 in an attempt to exterminate the Armenians.
Armenians view the massacres as genocide, and many historians and governments agree that the killings were staged.
Turkey acknowledges massacres and estimates that 300 thousand people have been killed. However, it says that there was no systematic attempt to exterminate the Christian Armenian people and says that many innocent Muslim Turks also died in the turmoil of war.