Turkey has accused the United States of trying to rewrite history, while totally rejecting US President Joe Biden’s decision to formally recognise the Armenian genocide.
Moments after Biden announced his decision, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted that Words cannot change or rewrite history stating they would not take lessons from anyone on their history
A while later, the Turkish foreign ministry reportedly summoned US Ambassador David Satterfield to express its displeasure, noting that Biden’s decision caused “a wound in relations that would be difficult to repair.
Biden becomes the first US president to use the word genocide in a customary statement on the anniversary of the 1915 to 1917 massacre, which happened as the Ottoman Empire unravelled.
The foreign ministry said in a separate statement that they reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the president of the US regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups.
It said it was clear that the said statement does not have a scholarly and legal basis, nor is it supported by any evidence.
The Armenians, supported by many historians and scholars, say 1.5 million of their people died in a genocide committed under the Ottoman Empire, which was fighting tsarist Russia in areas that include present-day Armenia.
Turkey accepts that both Armenians and Turks died in huge numbers during World War I, but vehemently denies there was a deliberate policy of genocide.
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