Turkish parliament condemns Biden's remarks on 1915 events

Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday decried US President Joe Biden's remarks on the Armenian claims about the events of 1915.

"As the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, we regretfully and strongly condemn US President Joe Biden's remarks with a statement dated on April 24, 2021 to adopt the Armenian lobbies’ claims on the events of 1915," said a joint declaration by political parties.

"We strongly reject these baseless slanders, which have no meaning other than the distortion of history with political motives," it said.

The parliament called on Biden to correct his mistake by changing his remarks on the events of 1915.

"(We call on Biden) to support Turkish and Armenian peoples to live in peace, stability and security," it added.

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

Turkish stance on 1915 events

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, Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Turkey's then prime minister and now president – expressed his condolences to the descendants of Armenians who lost their lives in the events of 1915.