Biden to recognize Armenian genocide, sources say

US President Joe Biden is expected to recognize the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as an act of genocide, sources said on Wednesday.

The largely symbolic move is likely to strain the already fragile ties between Washington and Ankara.  

For decades, the White House has carefully crafted its language toward the issue as Turkey remains hostile towards such statements. 

Washington has 'more to say'

Three sources familiar with the matter said that the US president was likely to use the word "genocide" during a statement on April 24, marking the annual commemorations for the victims.

"My understanding is that he took the decision and will use the word 'genocide' in his statement on Saturday," a source was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. 

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the White House would likely have "more to say" about the issue on Saturday. Psaki did not elaborate. 

Biden made a pledge 

During his campaign as a presidential candidate last year, Biden had pledged to honor the 1.5 million Armenians who lost their lives in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.  

"Today, we remember the atrocities faced by the Armenian people in the Metz Yeghern — the Armenian genocide. If elected, I pledge to support a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide and will make universal human rights a top priority," he said on Twitter at the time.

Earlier this week, a group of 100 bipartisan lawmakers urged Biden to fulfill his campaign promise. Representative Adam Schiff called on the president to "right decades of wrongs."

US-Turkey relations at stake 

Another US source, also cited by Reuters, cautioned that Biden might choose not to use the term at the last minute to maintain ties with Turkey.

On Tuesday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu said that such a move by Washington could further torment relations with Ankara. 

"Statements that have no legal binding will have no benefit, but they will harm ties," Cavusoglu said. "If the United States wants to worsen ties, the decision is theirs," Cavusoglu said in an interview with broadcaster Haberturk.

In 2019, both houses of the US Congress passed a resolution recognizing the killings as genocide, infuriating Turkey. But the Donald Trump administration rejected the vote and said it did not view the deaths as genocide, allowing Trump tomaintain a good relationship with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

fb/dj (Reuters, EFE)