Biden makes history by declaring killings of Armenians a 'genocide'

President Joe Biden formally recognized the Ottoman Empire's killing and deportation of Armenians over a century ago as a genocide.

President Joe Biden formally recognized the Ottoman Empire's killing and deportation of Armenians over a century ago as a genocide, breaking from his predecessors and risking inflaming tensions with Turkey. Biden had pledged as a presidential candidate to recognize the Armenians' treatment, which took place in modern-day Turkey, as genocide. Armenian-Americans have long called on U.S. presidents to do so, but Turkey, a key NATO ally, has warned the U.S. against it, long maintaining that the violence was part of bloody clashes during World War I. The Turkish government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said "we reject and denounce in the strongest terms" Biden's designation, adding it "will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship." Ties between the two allies have been increasingly strained in recent years, although Biden finally spoke to Erdogan Friday -- their first call during Biden's tenure -- and conveyed "his interest in a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements."