Turkey’s parliament censured United States President Joe Biden for recognising the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide.
The accusation is factually incorrect and driven by politics, the parliament said in a declaration approved on Tuesday. The statement was backed by all political parties in the assembly except for the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), the third-largest group, Turkish media including the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
“This baseless slander, which has no meaning other than distorting history with political motives, is null and void,” the parliament said.
Biden recognised the mass killings of Armenians during the Ottoman era as genocide on Saturday, in a move that has threatened to further complicate fraught relations with Turkey. The governments and parliaments of 32 countries, which also include Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia and Brazil, have also formally recognised the genocide.
Turkey vehemently opposes the genocide label saying both Turks and Armenians suffered casualties in fighting during World War I.
An attempt by a politician, regardless of status, to make a verdict that should be under court jurisdiction is a prime example of legal and moral irresponsibility, the political parties said in the declaration.
Ahval