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Joe Biden is expected to formally acknowledge the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I, according to U.S. officials.
The expected move – something Biden promised as a candidate to do – could further complicate an already strained relationship with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to an official who spoke to the Associated Press, administrative officials had not yet informed Turkey on Wednesday, and Biden could still change his mind.
Lawmakers and Armenian-American activists are pushing for Biden to make the announcement before or on the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, which is marked on Saturday.
One possibility is that Biden will include the recognition of genocide in the annual proclamation of the memorial day usually issued by presidents. Biden’s predecessors avoided the use of ‘genocide’ in the proclamation commemorating the darkest moment in history.
Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire died in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War I, but denies the figures and denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated and a genocide.
A bipartisan group of more than 100 members of the House signed a letter to Biden on Wednesday asking him to become the first American president to formally acknowledge the atrocities as genocide.
“The shameful silence of the US government over the historical fact of the Armenian genocide is taking too long, and it must end,” the lawmakers wrote. “We urge you to fulfill your obligations and speak the truth.”
Turkey’s foreign minister has warned Biden’s government that recognition would “harm” US-Turkey ties.
The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal first reported that Biden was preparing to admit the genocide.
If Biden were to follow suit, he would surely push back from Turkey, which had successfully pushed previous presidents to sidestep the issue.
The relationship between Biden and Erdogan begins to cool. For more than three months in his presidency, Biden has not spoken to him.
Biden upset Turkish officials during his presidential campaign last year after an interview with the New York Times in which he spoke about supporting Turkey’s opposition to ‘autocrat’ Erdogan. Yet Turkey was hopeful of restoring the relationship. Erdogan had a warm relationship with former Donald Trump, who gave him no lectures on Turkey’s human rights record.
“In the past, the motto of Turkey has been: ‘Well, we are such a good friend that you have to remain in solidarity with this,'” said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of the United States. began to urge Biden to acknowledge the genocide. “But they do not seem to be such good friends.”
Hamparian said he is hopeful Biden will follow suit. He noted that the sting of Barack Obama, who did not follow his 2008 campaign, the promise to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, remains for many in the Armenian diaspora.