Biden’s remarks on events of 1915 cannot be forgiven: Erdoğan

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on April 25 criticized the statement by U.S. President Joe Biden commemorating the Armenians who died during World War I.

“Since it is based on completely false information, we do not even find it worthy of being dwelt upon. Mr. Biden should first learn and know very well the history of Armenians. We cannot forgive this attempt aiming to challenge Turkey despite lacking such knowledge,” Erdoğan said, speaking at a press conference after the cabinet meeting.

As World War I continued to rage and the Ottoman Empire fought for its survival, the Armenians in Anatolia, “provoked and equipped by foreign states, started a revolt and attacked the Muslim population,” the president said.

The memories of the “massacres and the atrocities committed by the Armenian gangs” are still alive across our country, Erdoğan said.

Even though Armenian “propaganda expresses absurdly ridiculous numbers,” it is a fact that many times more Muslims were “brutally martyred by these gangs” than the Armenians who lost their lives in Anatolia, Erdoğan stated.

“Surely, killing even a single innocent civilian, regardless of their faith and origin, is a tragedy. In this spirit, we regard it a humanitarian duty to extend our sympathies and condolences for the Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives under the difficult conditions of World War I,” the president said.

Turkey never has and never will accept this debate, which should be conducted by historians, to be turned into a tool for political disputes both at home and abroad, Erdoğan said. “We believe whoever resorts to such abuses are disrespecting, above all else, the memory of millions of innocent civilians, who lost their lives in the First World War, including Turks, Armenians and other nations.”

The statements on the Armenian claims, which are recognized by various countries’ governments and parliaments, are “null and void” for Turkey, Erdoğan said.

In his April 24 message, the U.S. president used the term “genocide” for the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia in 1915. Biden also recognized the 1915 events as “genocide” in his statements last year.