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Turkey strongly rejects Biden’s recognition of Armenian genocide — top diplomat

ANKARA, April 25. /TASS/. Ankara "entirely rejects" US President Joe Biden’s statement, in which he refers to the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, Turkish Foreign Ministry Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday.

"Words cannot change or rewrite history. We have nothing to learn from anybody on our own past. Political opportunism is the greatest betrayal to peace and justice. We entirely reject this statement based solely on populism," the Turkish top diplomat said in a Twitter post.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry of Turkey said Biden’s move undermines relations between Washington and Ankara.

"This statement of the US, which distorts the historical facts, will never be accepted in the conscience of the Turkish people, and will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship," the ministry said in a statement.

"We call on the US President to correct this grave mistake, which serves no purpose other than to satisfy certain political circles," the statement reads.

In a written statement released on Saturday, US President Joe Biden recognized the events in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century as "Armenian genocide," despite the fact that his predecessors refrained from using the term. The move triggered a wave of criticism from the Turkish government.

About 2.5 million Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire before the First World War. According to various estimates, between 600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians died in 1915 as a result of deportation and systematic killings. The Turkish government acknowledges the fact of mass deaths of Armenians, but rejects the term ‘genocide,’ saying the number of victims given by the Armenian side was exaggerated. According to Ankara, deaths of Armenians were not due to a targeted policy by the government, but came as a result of a civil war in the Ottoman Empire, which claimed the lives of Turks as well.

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