US President Joe Biden formally recognised the systematic killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century as ‘genocide’, AFP reports. April 24 is observed as the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day –  the annual recognition of the events of 1915 to 1923 as a deliberate effort to wipe out Armenians. 

“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. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated,’ Biden said in a statement, becoming the first US president to use the term in an annual message.

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The 46th US President went on to call Turkey a ‘critical NATO ally’ and an important power in the Middle East, highlighting his intention to strengthen ties with Ankara, AFP added.

“It is very much the intention of the statement — very much the intention of the President — to be doing this in a very principled way focused on the merits of human rights, and not for any reason beyond that including placing blame,” an official told AFP reporters.

An estimated 2 million Armenians were deported and 1.5 million were killed in the events known as Metz Yeghern.

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During a telephone call Friday, Biden informed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of his plan to issue the statement, said a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss the private conversation and spoke on the condition of anonymity, AFP reports.

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Avet Adonts, speaking at the memorial before Biden issued his proclamation, said a U.S. president using the term genocide would “serve as an example for the rest of the civilized world.”