In the days following U.S. President Joe Biden's recognition of the mass deportations and executions of ethnic Armenians during the early 20th century as genocide, Turkish protesters are demanding that U.S. troops leave the country.
Biden's decision on Saturday to recognize the events—beginning in 1915—that killed roughly 1.5 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire, now Turkey, as a calculated ethnic cleansing prompted outrage from Turkish citizens and officials. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the move damaged relations between the two allies.
"We believe the expressions in the statement were included with the pressure of radical Armenian and anti-Turkish groups, but this situation does not resolve the destructive effects it has on bilateral relations," Erdogan said in a Monday speech.
A small group of protesters gathered outside the American consulate in Istanbul earlier on Monday in protest of Biden's declaration of the 1915 mass deportations and massacres as genocide. Chants of "Genocide is a lie, it's an American plan" could be heard along with demands that the U.S. stop using Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, according to the Associated Press.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Turkey's president said Monday he was "highly saddened" by Biden's decision to mark as genocide the mass deportations and massacres of Armenians in the early-20th-century Ottoman Empire, calling it baseless and unjust.
Erdogan also expressed hope they would discuss that and other issues during a first face-to-face meeting in years at the June NATO summit and "open the doors of a new period."
Otherwise, Erdogan said, Turkey would have to take necessary steps but did not elaborate.
"We believe the expressions in the statement were included with the pressure of radical Armenian and anti-Turkish groups, but this situation does not resolve the destructive effects it has on bilateral relations," Erdogan said.
In his speech Monday, the Turkish president spoke at length about the events that started during World War I. Erdogan said that Armenian rebels killed many defenseless Turkish civilians, since the men of military age were all away fighting.
Erdogan emphasized that historians should be studying the events and that the term "genocide" is too sensitive to be left to presidents or parliaments. He said the designation came into effect after 1948 and must be based on evidence and court decisions.
Turkey has long suggested forming a joint history commission with scholars on the matter, without result.
Erdogan said his country has "a clear conscience and assured heart" and did not believe in a "competition of pain."
"If you call it genocide, go ahead and look in the mirror," he added, arguing that millions suffered at the hands of European powers and the United States in recent centuries.
The U.S. consulate and the embassy were closed for routine visits until Wednesday after they issued a demonstration alert following Biden's announcement.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
