Turkey “entirely rejects” US President Joe Biden’s recognition of the 1915 Armenian events as “genocide”, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said, minutes after Biden’s declaration.

Biden on Saturday said the killings of Armenians constituted genocide, a historic declaration that is set to strain frayed ties between the two NATO allies.

“We have nothing to learn from anybody on our own past. Political opportunism is the greatest betrayal to peace and justice,” Cavusoglu said on Twitter.

“We entirely reject this statement based solely on populism.”

Turkey’s position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of these incidents as “genocide,” describing them as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia as well as international experts to tackle the issue.

Successive US presidents have refrained from calling the deaths of Armenians “genocide,” but former President Barack Obama adopted the Armenian phrase “Meds Yeghern” or “Great Crime” to describe the tragedy, a practice repeated by Trump.

Killings of Turkish diplomats

Armenian terror organisations have killed 31 Turkish diplomats and family members since the 1970s.

According to data compiled by Anadolu Agency, a total of 77 people – 58 of them Turkish citizens, including 31 diplomats and members of their family – lost their lives in attacks carried out by these terror organisations.

The vast majority of the attacks were carried out by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG).

ASALA, founded in 1975, was the first Armenian terrorist organisation to wage war against Turkey.

It not only targeted Turkey but also other countries and became infamous for a bomb attack on the Beirut office of the World Council of Churches in 1975.

The JCAG was formed in 1975 in Beirut. However, it is nationalistic, not Marxist-Leninist like ASALA.

Claiming that it only received support from the Armenia diaspora rather than foreign partners, JCAG only targeted Turkey because it believed that attacking other countries would damage the so-called “Armenian struggle.”

It initially gained notoriety by claiming responsibility with ASALA for an attack on Turkey’s Ambassador in Vienna Danis Tunaligil on October 22, 1975.

Source: TRTWorld and agencies