Photo from the New York Times
After days of speculation and a Friday phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Joe Biden officially recognized the slaughter of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War One as a genocide on the 106th Anniversary of the start of the atrocities.
That is a victory for human rights, the American Ideal, and history.
In a statement released by the White House Press Room, President Biden stated:
"Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring. Beginning on April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination. We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history. And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.
Of those who survived, most were forced to find new homes and new lives around the world, including in the United States. With strength and resilience, the Armenian people survived and rebuilt their community. Over the decades Armenian immigrants have enriched the United States in countless ways, but they have never forgotten the tragic history that brought so many of their ancestors to our shores. We honor their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.
Today, as we mourn what was lost, let us also turn our eyes to the future—toward the world that we wish to build for our children. A world unstained by the daily evils of bigotry and intolerance, where human rights are respected, and where all people are able to pursue their lives in dignity and security. Let us renew our shared resolve to prevent future atrocities from occurring anywhere in the world. And let us pursue healing and reconciliation for all the people of the world.
The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today."
Mr. Biden is the first President since Ronald Reagan to acknowledge the Ottoman atrocities against the Armenian People in that period (where up to a million and a half people may have died or been deported) as a genocide.
Because of Turkey's geopolitical position in the world as a member of N.A.T.O. and a bridge between the Middle East, Russia, and Europe, the presidents between Reagan and Biden practiced realpolitik in avoiding calling the Armenian Genocide a genocide in order to schmooze Turkish leadership.
Both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, despite campaign promises to do what Biden just did, balked when facing the reality of needing Turkish assistance in the wars in Iraq and Syria.
Donald Trump just did not care, despite a 2019 bipartisan Congressional resolution calling it so, preferring to cultivate a good relationship with fellow autocrat behaving Erdogan for political and personal financial reasons (a Trump Tower in Turkey.)
Moving forward, the question will remain how Turkey will react to the Biden statement.
People should remember that one of the reasons Turkey chose to not join the European Union was their refusal to acknowledge that their Ottoman great grandparents committed genocidal acts against the Armenians.
Will Erdogan just issue a statement like he did on Thursday before talking with Biden where he said Turkey "will continue to defend truths against the so-called Armenian genocide lie and those who support this slander with political motivations."
Or will he be more ambitious by expanding his autocratic reign and improving ties with fellow autocrats like Mr. Putin in Russia at the expense of N.A.T.O.
Time will tell but one thing is certain.
Thanks to Joe Biden, human rights, the American Ideal, and history can declare victory today.
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