Turkish Cyprus condemns Biden's remarks on 1915 events

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

The Turkish Cypriot president on Sunday condemned US President Joe Biden's recent "unfortunate statement" on the events of 1915.

"I strongly condemn Mr. Biden's statement, which distorts historical facts," Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar said in a written statement, adding that the Turkish nation protects minorities in every region it is present in, ensuring their rights and freedoms.

If they are looking for genocide, those who try to slander the history of the Turkish nation for the sake of political purposes should look at the systematic atrocities carried out by the Greek Cypriot terror organization EOKA in 1963-1974 against the Turkish Cypriots, he added, referring to the violence that led to Turkey’s intervention to protect Turkish Cypriots.

On Saturday, Biden called the events of 1915 a "genocide," breaking American presidents' long-held tradition of refraining from using the term.

'Baseless claims'

"This statement, which aims to cast a shadow over the glorious past of the Turkish nation, is also null and void for the TRNC, which always stands by our homeland," the TRNC Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Biden’s statement – made for political gain – gave a biased and shortsighted view of history, yet will not change the facts, but will instead harm Turkish-US ties as well as discredit the US.

It also cited Turkey's calls to establish a joint historical commission to shed more light on the events, saying that “this call made to move a historical issue out of the shadow of politics still has not been answered by malicious circles.”

Turkish stance on 1915 events

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.

In 2014, Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Turkey’s then-prime minister, now president – expressed condolences to the descendants of Armenians who lost their lives in the events of 1915.