Joe Biden Becomes First Sitting U.S. President to Officially Recognize Armenian Genocide

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In a statement on Armenian Remembrance Day, President Joe Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to refer to the atrocity as a “genocide” in an official statement.

The systematic deportations and massacre of about 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottomans between 1915 and 1923 has long been condemned officially by the United States and its Presidents, but it has never been officially recognized as a genocide until today.

President Biden’s statement opens with that recognition.

“Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide,” it reads, “and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring.”

Biden spoke with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday and reportedly told him of his plan to make the official recognition.

The U.S. Embassy issued a statement shortly afterward warning of possible backlash to the move, and announcing that the embassy and consulates in Turkey will be closed to routine business on Monday and Tuesday. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a harsh condemnation in response.

Below is the full statement from President Biden.

Statement by President Joe Biden on Armenian Remembrance Day

Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring. Beginning on April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination. We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history. And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.

Of those who survived, most were forced to find new homes and new lives around the world, including in the United States. With strength and resilience, the Armenian people survived and rebuilt their community. Over the decades Armenian immigrants have enriched the United States in countless ways, but they have never forgotten the tragic history that brought so many of their ancestors to our shores. We honor their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.

Today, as we mourn what was lost, let us also turn our eyes to the future—toward the world that we wish to build for our children. A world unstained by the daily evils of bigotry and intolerance, where human rights are respected, and where all people are able to pursue their lives in dignity and security. Let us renew our shared resolve to prevent future atrocities from occurring anywhere in the world. And let us pursue healing and reconciliation for all the people of the world.

The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today.

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