Biden to formally recognize Armenian genocide

The Biden administration believes it is important to “acknowledge history,” a White House spokesperson told Kathimerini.

In a statement, the spokesperson said: “As a presidential candidate, President Biden commemorated the 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children who lost their lives in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. He said then that we must never forget or remain silent about this horrific campaign.”

“We will forever respect the perseverance of the Armenian people in the wake of such a great tragedy. This administration is committed to promoting respect for human rights and ensuring such atrocities are not repeated. A critical part of that is acknowledging history.”

The statement followed a request for a reaction to a letter initiated by Senator Bob Menenez and co-signed by 36 other Senators of both parties.

In the letter, Menenez and his co-signers wrote: “We write today to strongly urge you to officially recognize the truth of the Armenian Genocide. In the past you have recognized the Armenian Genocide as genocide, including in your Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day statement during the 2020 campaign. We call on you to do so again as President to make clear that the US government recognizes this terrible truth.”

The letter added that “in December 2019, after decades of obstruction, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution introduced affirming the facts of the Armenian Genocide. The House also overwhelmingly passed its own resolution recognizing the facts of the Armenian Genocide in 2019. We appreciate that in your April 2020 Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day statement you pledged ‘to support a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide,’ but Congress has already made its position clear. It is time for executive branch to do so as well.”