'US attitude on 1915 events unrelated to historical facts'

ANKARA

Blasting US President Joe Biden's statement on the events of 1915 as "unacceptable," the head of the Turkish parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said Saturday that the US attitude on the events is unrelated to historical facts.

Biden's assessment of the events caused serious disappointment due to the way the US lost its moderate approach in line with the proper understanding of a state, Akif Cagatay Kilic said in a statement.

Kilic said the international Armenian lobby use the date April 24 as propaganda fodder contrary to the law and truth, and Armenians and the Armenian diaspora expended huge efforts and resources to get the so-called "genocide" allegations accepted by the international public.

"It is a known fact that the Armenian lobby, which has significant electoral power in the US, has been working for decades to distort the historical facts and aiming to achieve political gains by the US administration, and has concentrated its efforts in this direction especially on the Biden camp since before the 2020 presidential elections," he said.

'Issue should be left to historians'

Kilic added that using a subject that should be left to historians as political fodder harms Armenia more than Turkey.

"These unrealistic claims, which have become the reason for the existence of the Armenian diaspora, do not benefit the people of Armenia, who are overwhelmed by internal and external problems in the South Caucasus, and who cannot cope with economic difficulties and grow poorer every day," he added.

Citing the historical facts from 1915, Kilic said thousands of Turkish citizens were brutally massacred by Armenian gangs, as proven by documents in the archives of many different states.

He concluded that Turkey and the history of the Turkish nation are spotless and cannot be stained by untrue statements or baseless claims.

Earlier Saturday, Biden called the events of 1915 a "genocide," breaking American presidents' long-held tradition of refraining from using the term.

Turkish stance on events of 1915

Turkey’s position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of these incidents as “genocide,” describing them as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia as well as international experts to tackle the issue.

In 2014, then-Prime Minister Erdogan expressed condolences to the descendants of Armenians who lost their lives in the events of 1915.