Armenians Massacres: Turkey Outraged by Biden’s Declaration

Following US President Joe Biden’s declaration considering the Armenians Massacres carried out by the Ottoman Empire to be a genocide, Turkey’s presidential spokesman responded today Sunday that it is “simply outrageous” and that Turkey is to respond in different ways the forthcoming months.

Following US President Joe Biden’s declaration considering the Armenians Massacres carried out by the Ottoman Empire to be a genocide, Turkey’s presidential spokesman responded today Sunday that it is “simply outrageous” and that Turkey is to respond in different ways the forthcoming months.

While Joe Biden’s Saturday declaration has delighted Armenia and its diaspora, it has indeed cut ties with decades of balanced relations between the US and Turkey over tackling the issue of the killings of Armenians in 1915.

“There will be a reaction of different forms and kinds and degrees in coming days and months,” Ibrahim Kalin, President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman and adviser, told Reuters in an interview.

Ibrahim Kalin didn’t provide any clues on whether Turkey would ban US from accessing Incirlik air base in southern Turkey or not. This base has been used to fight the ISIS group in Syria and Iraq.

Biden’s declaration provoked Turkish officials who condemned such a statement on Saturday while Kalin reported that Erdogan is to address the matter at hand after a cabinet meeting on Monday. Kalin further added that “At a time and place that we consider to be appropriate, we will continue to respond to this very unfortunate unfair statement.”

Turkey admits that many Armenians who were living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces in World War One; however, it strongly denounces the killings to be orchestrated as a genocide.

“To reduce all that to one word and try to implicate that Turks were involved, our Ottoman ancestors were involved in genocidal acts is simply outrageous,” Kalin said. “It’s not supported by historical fact”.

The Turkish foreign ministry later summoned US Ambassador David Satterfield to express its displeasure, noting that Biden’s decision caused “a wound in relations that is difficult to repair,” the Anadolu state news agency reported.

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