Joe Biden officially recognized the Armenian genocide

“Each year on this day we remember the lives of all those who died in the Armenian genocide of the Ottoman era and we again pledge to prevent this atrocity from happening again”, with this phrase Joe Biden is became the first US president to call the massacre of 1.5 million Armenian genocide during the World War One.

The president made the announcement with a statement on Saturday, April 24, coinciding with a new anniversary of the start of the Armenian massacre in 1915, when Ottoman Empire troops fought Tsarist Russia in World War I in the region that today she is Armenia. “The American people honor all Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today,” the president said so that there is no doubt about his recognition.

The statement probably intensify tensions with Turkey, a NATO ally who vehemently rejects this designation already adopted by many countries, including France and Russia. However, in the text, Biden seeks to reconcile: “We affirm history. We are not doing it to blame anyone, but to make sure that what happened never happens again ”.

The Armenian genocide is recognized by around thirty countries and by the historical community. According to estimates, between 1.2 and 1.5 million Armenians were killed during World War I by troops from the Ottoman Empire, then an ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

“We pay tribute to the victims of Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost in history. And we remember it so that we always remain vigilant against the corrosive influence of hatred in all its forms, ”said the American.

The US designation comes after 100 members of Congress urged Biden in a letter to fulfill his election promise to recognize the Armenian genocide. The United States Congress officially recognized the killings as genocide in December 2019 in a symbolic vote. “The shameful silence of the United States government has been maintained for too long, and it must end,” the letter said.

Armenians estimate that a million and a half of theirs were systematically killed during World War I by troops from the Ottoman Empire, then an ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Every April 24, they commemorate this genocide.

On April 24, 1915, thousands of Armenians suspected of having national sentiments hostile to the central government were arrested. On May 26, a law authorizes evictions “for reasons of internal security” and another law of September 13 orders the confiscation of their property. The Armenian population of Anatolia and Cilicia (a region integrated into Turkey in 1921) was forcibly exiled into the deserts of Mesopotamia. Many were killed on the road or in the fields, burned alive, drowned, poisoned or victims of typhus, according to reports by foreign diplomats and intelligence officials at the time.

In 2000, 126 researchers, including Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, said in a statement issued in New York that “the Armenian genocide during World War I is an indisputable historical fact”.

“Today, as we mourn what has been lost, let us also look to the future, to the world we want to build for our children. A world that is not marred by the daily evils of intolerance and fanaticism, in which human rights are respected and in which everyone can live in dignity and security. Let us renew our common determination to prevent future atrocities from happening all over the world. And seek healing and reconciliation for all the people of the worldBiden said in his long-awaited statement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday accused “third parties” of meddling in Turkish affairs, after US President Joe Biden officially recognized the Armenian genocide. “It does not benefit anyone that the debates – which historians should lead – are politicized by third parties and become an instrument of interference in our country,” he said in a message to the Armenian Patriarch in Istanbul.

About thirty countries

On April 20, 1965, Uruguay was the first country to recognize the Armenian Genocide. In France, recognition was passed by law in 2001, and a national day of commemoration was celebrated for the first time on April 24, 2019. Denial of genocide is not criminalized there, unlike Switzerland and Cyprus or in Slovakia.

In total, the parliaments of around thirty countries have passed laws, resolutions or motions explicitly recognizing the Armenian genocide. These are Germany, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, United States, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Paraguay, Holland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, Vatican and Venezuela. In February 2020, in the context of strong tensions between Damascus and Ankara, the Syrian parliament officially recognized her.

These votes, which sometimes emanate from only one of the chambers of Parliament and with which governments can distance themselves, have different legal implications.

The European Parliament recognized the Armenian genocide in 1987.

Countries where a resolution recognizing the genocide was recently passed include the Netherlands in 2018 and Portugal in 2019. In Germany, the Bundestag, the lower house, also passed a resolution in 2016, although Chancellor Angela Merkel l qualified as non-binding.

On April 24, 2015, in Armenia’s full commemoration of the centenary of the genocide, Pope Francis referred to it as the “first genocide of the twentieth century”.

Full statement by President Joe Biden on Armenian Remembrance Day:

Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Armenian genocide of the Ottoman era and we pledge once again to prevent this atrocity from happening again. From April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by the Ottoman authorities, 1.5 million Armenians were deported, massacred or put to death during an extermination campaign. . We pay tribute to the victims of Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost in history. And we recall that we always remain vigilant against the corrosive influence of hatred in all its forms.

Of those who survived, most were forced to find new homes and new lives in the world, including the United States. With strength and endurance, 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 story that brought so many of their ancestors to our shores. We honor their history. We see this pain. We affirm history. We don’t do this to blame anyone, but to make sure what happened never happens again.

Today, as we mourn what has been lost, let us also look to the future, to the world we want to build for our children. A world that is not marred by the daily evils of intolerance and fanaticism, in which human rights are respected and in which everyone can live in dignity and security. Let us renew our common determination to prevent future atrocities from happening all over the world. And let’s seek healing and reconciliation for all the people of the world.

The American people honor all Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today.

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