ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkish President on Monday slammed the United States’ recognition of the Armenian genocide, claiming it has led to the further deterioration of US-Turkey relations. “Turkish-US relations have further regressed with US' April 24 announcement on Armenia,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday in his first public statement since the recognition of the Armenian genocide by US President Joe Biden on Saturday. “Investigating historical events and revealing the truth should be left to experts, historians, not to politicians,” Erdogan added. An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were victims of a wide Ottoman campaign beginning in 1915, the exact date to which the genocide ended is a matter of disagreement among people. Biden, who campaigned on a ticket of recognition for the genocide, is the first American president to officially recognize the genocide. Erdogan claimed that only 150,000 Armenians “died in the fight against the Ottoman empire.” “If you call it genocide, you should look in the mirror and re-evaluate yourselves,” he added. Erdogan on Saturday sent a letter to Armenian Patriarch Sahak Masalyan, calling to enhance relations between the two countries. However, Armenian foreign minister Ara Ayvazyan on Monday said that they want actions from Turkey rather than words. “There have been such messages before, even a signed bilateral document that has been signed but didn't have a positive continuation. So once again I want to confirm that not words but deeds are important to us,” Ayvazyan said. The relationship between the two NATO allies has been through a rocky path recently. Ankara’s pull out from the 2011 Istanbul convention requiring governments to adopt legislation prosecuting violence against women, prompted criticism from the US. “Turkey’s sudden and unwarranted withdrawal from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is deeply disappointing,” Biden wrote at the time. In December, the US announced sanctions against Turkey’s military procurement agency for the purchase of S-400 missile system from Russia. Turkey's foreign ministry condemned the "unilateral" sanctions, blaming the US for "refusal to accept our proposals to resolve the issue through dialogue and diplomacy" in the past.
