Biden Formally Calls the Mass Slaughter of Armenians a Genocide

The designation follows a “tense” phone call with Turkey’s authoritarian leader.

Anna Moneymaker/ZUMA

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

President Joe Biden on Saturday formally recognized the 1915 massacre and systematic removal of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as a “genocide,” a term that, for decades, the government of Turkey has rejected. Biden’s designation marks the first time a sitting US president has been willing to acknowledge the mass slaughter and deportation of nearly 1.5 million Armenians was ethnically motivated.

“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,” the White House said in a statement marking the annual Armenian Remembrance Day. “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.”

The long held resistance by the US government to describe the killings a genocide largely stems from Turkey’s role as a key NATO ally, as well as the country’s persistent refusal to discuss the issue. Turkey swiftly hit back against the declaration on Twitter, writing: “We entirely reject this statement based solely on populism.”

Biden’s declaration is the culmination of years of campaigning by historians and human rights activists.  In a reportedly “tense” Friday phone call, Biden warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of his intention to label the massacre a genocide.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate