Biden Designates Armenian Genocide for Second Consecutive Year

Published 25 Apr.2022 10:04(KST)

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] U.S. President Joe Biden said on the 24th (local time), "We remember the 1.5 million Armenians who were deported, killed, and died while walking amid an extermination campaign, and mourn their deaths." He once again defined the Armenian massacre as a genocide.

In a statement released on the 107th anniversary of the incident, President Biden said, "The Armenian genocide was one of the worst large-scale atrocities of the 20th century."

He emphasized, "We will remain vigilant against all harmful effects of hatred," and "We raise our voices against atrocities that leave indelible scars on the world and pledge again to prevent them."

President Biden referred to the incident as a genocide for the first time since President Ronald Reagan in 1981, on April 24 last year, the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

Previous U.S. presidents did not publicly define the Armenian massacre as a genocide due to opposition from Turkey, a NATO ally, which holds a different historical perspective.

President Biden's remarks on this day are particularly notable in relation to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for pursuing genocide in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated its rejection of the Armenian massacre as a genocide. While acknowledging that many people died, Turkey claims that the actual death toll of about 300,000 has been greatly exaggerated and that the causes of death were civil unrest, with Muslim Turks also being killed.