US President Joe Biden, in a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, announced his intention to recognize the massacre of Armenians in the early 20th century in the Ottoman Empire as Genocide, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the talk between the two leaders.
Biden is expected to use the word ‘genocide’ in his statement on Saturday to recognize the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, fulfilling a promise he made during his presidential campaign. He will become the first US president in 40 years to publicly recognize the 1915 massacre as genocide.
Bloomberg also notes that the White House did not mention the matter in a press release on Biden’s phone call with Erdogan, noting only that Biden told the Turkish leader that he was interested in a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of differences.