Defying Turkey, Joe Biden recognises Armenian genocide

U.S. is set to designate the killings by Turks as genocide, a move that may spark tensions with Turkey

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday recognised the 1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide, a watershed moment for descendants of the hundreds of thousands of dead as he defied decades of pressure by Turkey. Mr. Biden became the first U.S. President to use the word genocide in a customary statement on the anniversary, a day after informing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he would go ahead with this step. “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,” Mr. Biden said. “And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms,” he said.