Biden will reportedly recognize killings of Armenians as genocide

People hold photos of victims of the Armenian Genocide.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

last updated 22 April 2021

President Biden is preparing to announce that the atrocities committed against Armenian civilians in the early 20th century were an act of genocide, officials familiar with the matter told The New York Times.

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire amid a systemic death march that began during World War I, historians say. Biden is expected to make his declaration on Saturday, the annual day of remembrance for the victims. Turkey has said Armenians were killed amid clashes with Ottoman forces, but denies that the death toll topped 1 million and a genocide occurred.

At least two dozen countries have recognized the killings as a genocide, and in 2019, Congress passed nonbinding resolutions doing the same, but no sitting U.S. president has explicitly referred to an Armenian genocide, with the exception of a passing written reference by Ronald Reagan in 1981. Already, tensions are high between the U.S. and Turkey, with the countries clashing on everything from human rights to the situation in Syria. On Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a reporter, "Statements that have no legal binding will have no benefit, but they will harm ties. If the United States wants to worsen ties, the decision is theirs."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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