* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)
Click to read the article in Turkish
After US President Joe Biden officially recognized the Armenian genocide in a statement on the occasion of Genocide Remembrance Day on Saturday (April 24), Turkey's Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın has spoken to Al Jazeera and Reuters news outlets.
As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), speaking to Al Jazeera, İbrahim Kalın has said that "US President Joe Biden's remarks on the events of 1915, which distorted historical facts under pressure from the radical Armenian lobby, are null and void."
"We strongly reject and condemn this statement, which reflects the slanders of those who are malicious and whose only agenda is hostile to our country," he has said, adding that "the so-called genocide allegations lack any basis or scholarly evidence as required by international law."
'A term invented in 1948'
Referring to President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, İbrahim Kalın has stated:
"When our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the establishment of a joint history commission to investigate the 1915 events, he wanted to save a historical issue from the shadow of politics and malicious circles. The US president ignored these facts and took an unfair attitude."
Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın has also said that "historical events must be investigated by historians and these facts cannot be determined by the narrow interests of a political context," indicating that "many respected historians such as Bernard Lewis, Edward Erickson and Guenter Lewy have denied and rejected any claim of genocide."
Noting that the word genocide was invented in 1948, he has said that "the term cannot be applied to events before 1948."
He has also argued that "the US administration unfortunately has succumbed to the pressure of the Armenian lobby."
"The statement by the US president politicizes historical facts for narrow political gains. This is really unfortunate," he has said.
'It threatens to damage normalization efforts'
Stating that "Turkey belongs to a civilization that represents the most important example in the history of the culture of coexistence," Kalın has argued that "Turkey never shrinks from confronting historical reality."
"The losses experienced in WWI represent the shared pains of this region. However, it is a historical mistake to act with the mindset of radical Armenian lobbies that produce nothing but terror and hostility.
"Biden's statement is based on unfounded allegations that threaten to damage normalization efforts between Turkey and Armenia," he has said.
"We invite the US president to correct this unfortunate statement that would open deep wounds in Turkish-US relations and instead show an attitude that is fair and would serve regional peace," he has stated.
"Turkey will continue to strongly defend the truth against those who misrepresent the historical facts," he has added.
'Turkey will respond in time'
Presidential Spokesperson Kalın has also spoken to Reuters about the issue. As again reported by the AA, Kalın has said, "Turkey will respond over the coming months to the remarks by the US President."
"There will be a reaction of different forms and kinds and degrees in the coming days and months," Kalın has told Reuters.
"Everything that we conduct with the US will be under the spell of this very unfortunate statement," he has indicated further.
Underlining that "Turkey's parliament is expected to make a statement Monday", Kalın has said that "the United States declaration would not provide any legal basis for potential reparation claims."
"To reduce all that to one word and try to implicate that Turks were involved, our Ottoman ancestors were involved in genocidal acts, is simply outrageous," he has added further. (RT/SD)
