Biden says 1915 Armenian massacre constitutes genocide

US President Joe Biden (L). Armenia's PM Nikol Pashinyan lays flowers at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan on April 24, 2021. (AFP)
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Updated 25 April 2021
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Biden says 1915 Armenian massacre constitutes genocide

  • Up to 1.5 million died from 1915 to 1917
  • ‘Atrocity’ must never be repeated, Biden says

ANKARA / WASHINGTON: The murder of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces a century ago was genocide, US President Joe Biden acknowledged on Saturday.

The recognition, the first by a US leader, came on the 106th anniversary of the day the killings began in 1915.

In his statement, Biden said the American people honor “all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today.”

“Over the decades Armenian immigrants have enriched the United States in countless ways, but they have never forgotten the tragic history,” Biden said. 

“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,” Biden said. 

“We honor their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated,” he said.

READ MORE

An Arab News Spotlight piece ‘Better late than never’: Why the US recognition of the Armenian Genocide is significant looks at the importance of using the correct language with regard to the events of 106 years ago. Read it here.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan thanked Biden for his “powerful step toward justice and invaluable support to the heirs of the Armenian genocide victims.”

The killings took place from 1915 to 1917 during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, which suspected the Christian minority of conspiring with Russia during the First World War. 

Armenians were rounded up and sent into the Syrian desert on death marches in which many were shot, poisoned or died from disease.

Turkey, which emerged as a republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, has always rejected allegations of genocide. It claims that about 300,000 Armenians died, mainly from war and famine.

The largely symbolic move, breaking away from decades of carefully calibrated language from the White House, was welcomed by the Armenian diaspora in the US, but comes at a time when Ankara and Washington grapple with deep policy disagreements over a host of issues.

For decades, measures recognizing the Armenian genocide stalled in the US Congress and most US presidents have refrained from calling it that, stymied by concerns about relations with Turkey and intense lobbying by Ankara. 

Ronald Reagan, the former US president from California, a hub for the Armenian diaspora in the US, had been the only US president to publicly call the killings genocide.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide.

Turkey's government and most of the opposition showed rare unity in their rejection of Biden's statement.

“Words cannot change or rewrite history,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after Biden’s acknowledgment on Saturday. “We will not take lessons from anyone on our history.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said debates “should be held by historians” and not “politicized by third parties.”

Nevertheless, analysts expect the response from Turkey to be muted. 

Soner Cagaptay, a Turkish academic at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, pointed out that Biden’s statement mentioned “Constantinople” rather than modern-day Istanbul, and there was no reference to Turkey. 

“It is a carefully crafted, victim-focused, and forward-looking document that avoids finger pointing at Turkey,” he told Arab News.

“In the short term, I think Erdogan will play this down. He is going to do it with non-confrontational rhetoric because for the first time he needs the US more than he believes the US needs him.”

In Montebello, California, a city in Los Angeles County that is home to many Armenian-Americans, members of the community held a small and somber ceremony during which they placed a cross made of flowers at a monument to the victims. Some attendees wore pins reading "genocide denied genocide repeated."

Raffi Hamparian, chairman of Armenian National Committee of America, said in a statement that Biden's "principled stand ... pivots America toward the justice deserved and the security required for the future of the Armenian nation."

(With Reuters)

 


Afghanistan welcomes upgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan

Updated 2 sec ago
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Afghanistan welcomes upgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan

  • The move signals easing tensions between the neighboring countries have cooled in recent months
  • Tensions fueled by security concerns and a campaign by Islamabad to expel tens of thousands of Afghans
KABUL: Afghanistan has welcomed the decision to upgrade diplomatic relations with Pakistan, where the Taliban government’s foreign minister is due to travel in the coming days, his office said on Saturday.
The move signals easing tensions between the neighboring countries, as relations between the Taliban authorities and Pakistan – already rocky – have cooled in recent months, fueled by security concerns and a campaign by Islamabad to expel tens of thousands of Afghans.
Pakistan’s top diplomat on Friday said the charge d’affaires stationed in Kabul would be elevated to the rank of ambassador, with Kabul later announcing its representative in Islamabad would also be upgraded.
“This elevation in diplomatic representation between Afghanistan & Pakistan paves the way for enhanced bilateral cooperation in multiple domains,” the Aghan foreign ministry said on X.
Kabul’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is due to visit Pakistan “in the coming days,” ministry spokesman Zia Ahmad Takal said.
Muttaqi met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in May in Beijing as part of a trilateral meeting with their Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Wang afterwards announced Kabul and Islamabad’s intention to exchange ambassadors and expressed Beijing’s willingness “to continue to assist with improving Afghanistan-Pakistan ties.”
Dar hailed the “positive trajectory” of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations on Friday, saying the upgrading of their representatives would “promote further exchanges between two fraternal countries.”
Only a handful of countries – including China – have agreed to host Taliban government ambassadors since their return to power in 2021, with no country yet formally recognizing the administration.
Russia last month said it would also accredit a Taliban government ambassador, days after removing the group’s “terrorist” designation.

China rebukes Macron's comparison of Ukraine and Taiwan

Updated 22 min 3 sec ago
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China rebukes Macron's comparison of Ukraine and Taiwan

  • China's embassy fired back that the "Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affair

SINGAPORE: China hit back at French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday for drawing a connection between the Ukraine conflict and the fate of Taiwan, saying the two issues are "different in nature, and not comparable at all".
"Comparing the Taiwan question with the Ukraine issue is unacceptable," China's embassy in Singapore said on social media, a day after Macron warned Asian defence officials in Singapore not to view Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a far-away problem.
"If we consider that Russia could be allowed to take a part of the territory of Ukraine without any restriction, without any constraint, without any reaction of the global order, how would you phrase what could happen in Taiwan?" Macron told the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier annual security forum.
"What would you do the day something happens in the Philippines?"
China's embassy fired back that the "Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affair. There is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory."
While Taiwan considers itself a sovereign nation, China has said it will not rule out using force to bring it under its control.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Saturday at the same forum in Singapore that China was "credibly preparing" to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia, adding the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and "rehearsing for the real deal".


South Koreans rally for presidential hopefuls days before vote

Updated 34 min 28 sec ago
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South Koreans rally for presidential hopefuls days before vote

  • All major polls have placed liberal Lee Jae-myung well ahead in the presidential race

SEOUL: Thousands of supporters of South Korea’s two leading presidential candidates rallied on Saturday in Seoul, days before a vote triggered by the ex-leader’s disastrous declaration of martial law.
Tuesday’s election caps months of political turmoil sparked by Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief suspension of civilian rule in December, for which he was impeached and removed from office.
All major polls have placed liberal Lee Jae-myung well ahead in the presidential race, with a recent Gallup survey showing 49 percent of respondents viewed him as the best candidate.
Kim Moon-soo, from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) that Yoon left this month, trailed behind at 35 percent.
Organizers from both camps told police they expected tens of thousands of supporters to rally in Seoul on Saturday.
In Seocho, in the south of the capital, Lee supporters gathered holding signs condemning Yoon’s “insurrection.”
“I believe the outcome of the presidential election is already decided,” Lee Kyung-joon, a Lee supporter, told AFP.
“I came to today’s rally to help condemn the forces involved in the martial law attempt,” he added, referring to ex-president Yoon’s political allies.
Yoon is currently on trial for insurrection, and Kwon Oh-hyeok, one of the organizers of Saturday’s rally, said a Lee victory in the June 3 vote was crucial to holding him accountable.
“Isn’t the People Power Party’s decision to run in the snap election — triggered by Yoon’s removal from office — an insult and a betrayal of the people?” Kwon told rally participants.
“Fellow citizens, we must win by a landslide to deliver the justice this moment demands.”
On the other side of town, in Gwanghwamun Square, conservatives — including supporters of disgraced ex-leader Yoon — filled the streets holding signs that read “Yoon Again” and “Early voting is invalid!“
Yoon’s martial law attempt, which he claimed was necessary to “root out” pro-North Korean, “anti-state” forces, emboldened a wave of extreme supporters including far-right YouTubers and radical religious figures.
Many have spread unverified content online, including allegations of Chinese espionage and fraud within South Korea’s electoral system.
That sentiment was on full display at Saturday’s rally, where protesters called for the dissolution of the National Election Commission over a series of mishaps during the two-day early voting period this week.
“People believe the root of all these problems lies with the National Election Commission, and that it should be held accountable,” conservative protester Rhee Kang-san told AFP.

Both frontrunner Lee of the liberal Democratic Party and conservative challenger Kim have cast the race as a battle for the soul of the country.
More than a third of those eligible cast their ballots in early voting on Thursday and Friday, according to the election commission.
Overseas voting reached a record high, with nearly four-fifths of the 1.97 million eligible voters casting their ballots last week.
Experts say that regardless of who wins, South Korea’s polarization is likely to deepen.
If Lee wins, the conservatives “will do whatever it takes to undermine him and his government, whether their logic makes sense or not,” political analyst Park Sang-byung told AFP.
“Unless the PPP distances itself from Yoon’s extremist base, it could turn to misinformation — such as unfounded claims of election fraud — to mobilize the right against Lee. That’s a troubling prospect,” he said.
Whoever succeeds Yoon will also have to grapple with a worsening economic downturn, one of the world’s lowest birth rates, the soaring cost of living and bellicose neighbor North Korea.
He will also have to navigate a mounting superpower standoff between the United States, South Korea’s traditional security guarantor, and China, its largest trade partner.


Rescue operations underway after Nigeria flooding kills at least 115

Updated 31 May 2025
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Rescue operations underway after Nigeria flooding kills at least 115

  • Torrential rains late Wednesday through early Thursday washed away and submerged dozens of homes in and around the town of Mokwa
  • Bodies were swept into the river and carried downstream, complicating efforts to compile a death toll

ABUJA: Search-and-rescue operations continued in Nigeria Saturday after flash flooding in the central west killed at least 115 people, President Bola Tinubu said, as officials warned the toll was expected to rise.

Torrential rains late Wednesday through early Thursday washed away and submerged dozens of homes in and around the town of Mokwa, located near the Niger River.

Bodies were swept into the river and carried downstream, complicating efforts to compile a death toll, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said.

Tinubu, in an overnight post on social media, said that security forces were being sent to help first responders, while “relief materials and temporary shelter assistance are being deployed without delay.”

Buildings collapsed and roads were inundated in the town, located more than 350 kilometers (215 miles) by road from the capital Abuja, an AFP journalist in Mokwa observed Friday.

Emergency services and residents searched through the rubble as floodwaters flowed alongside.

“Some bodies were recovered from the debris of collapsed homes,” Husseini said, adding that his teams would need excavators to retrieve corpses.

He said many were still missing, citing a family of 12 where only four members had been accounted for as of Friday.

Mohammed Tanko, 29, a civil servant, pointed to a house he grew up in, telling reporters: “We lost at least 15 from this house. The property (is) gone. We lost everything.”

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said that the Nigerian Red Cross, local volunteers, the military and police were all aiding in the response.

Nigeria’s rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year.

Flooding, usually caused by heavy rains and poor infrastructure, wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the west African country.

Scientists have also warned that climate change is fueling more extreme weather patterns.

In Nigeria, the floods are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels.

“This tragic incident serves as a timely reminder of the dangers associated with building on waterways and the critical importance of keeping drainage channels and river paths clear,” NEMA said in a statement.

At least 78 people have been hospitalized with injuries, the Red Cross chief for the state, Gideon Adamu, said.

According to the Daily Trust newspaper, thousands of people have been displaced and more than 50 children in an Islamic school were reported missing.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria’s 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday.

In 2024, more than 1,200 people were killed and 1.2 million displaced in at least 31 out of Nigeria’s 36 states, making it one of the country’s worst flood seasons in decades, according to NEMA.

Local media reported that more than 5,000 people have been left homeless, while the Red Cross said two major bridges in the town were torn apart.

Displaced children played in the flood waters Friday, heightening the possibility of exposure to water-borne diseases, with at least two bodies lying there, covered in banana leaves and printed ankara cloth.

Describing how she escaped the raging waters, Sabuwar Bala, 50, a yam vendor, told reporters: “I was only wearing my underwear, someone loaned me all I’m wearing now. I couldn’t even save my flip-flops.”

“I can’t locate where my home stood because of the destruction,” she said.


Pentagon chief warns China ‘preparing’ to use military force in Asia

Updated 31 May 2025
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Pentagon chief warns China ‘preparing’ to use military force in Asia

  • US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth makes the remarks at an annual security forum in Singapore
  • Since taking office in January, Donald Trump has launched a trade war with China, sought to curb its access to key AI technologies and deepened security ties with allies

SINGAPORE: US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Saturday that China was “credibly preparing” to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia, vowing the United States was “here to stay” in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Pentagon chief made the remarks at an annual security forum in Singapore as the administration of US President Donald Trump spars with Beijing on trade, technology, and influence over strategic corners of the globe.

Since taking office in January, Trump has launched a trade war with China, sought to curb its access to key AI technologies and deepened security ties with allies such as the Philippines, which is engaged in escalating territorial disputes with Beijing.

“The threat China poses is real and it could be imminent,” Hegseth said at the Shangri-La Dialogue attended by defense officials from around the world.

Beijing is “credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,” he added.

Hegseth warned the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and “rehearsing for the real deal.”

Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan and held multiple large-scale exercises around the island, often described as preparations for a blockade or invasion.

The United States was “reorienting toward deterring aggression by communist China,” Hegseth said, calling on US allies and partners in Asia to swiftly upgrade their defenses in the face of mounting threats.

Hegseth described China’s conduct as a “wake-up call,” accusing Beijing of endangering lives with cyberattacks, harassing its neighbors, and “illegally seizing and militarizing lands” in the South China Sea.

Beijing claims almost the entire disputed waterway, through which more than 60 percent of global maritime trade passes, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit.

It has clashed repeatedly with the Philippines in the strategic waters in recent months, with the flashpoint set to dominate discussions at the Singapore defense forum, according to US officials.

As Hegseth spoke in Singapore, China’s military announced that its navy and air force were carrying out routine “combat readiness patrols” around the Scarborough Shoal, a chain of reefs and rocks Beijing disputes with the Philippines.

“China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea has only increased in recent years,” Casey Mace, charge d’affaires at the US embassy in Singapore, told journalists ahead of the meeting.

“I think that this type of forum is exactly the type of forum where we need to have an exchange on that.”

Beijing has not sent any top defense ministry officials to the summit, dispatching a delegation from the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University instead.

Hegseth’s hard-hitting address drew a critical reaction from Chinese analysts at the conference.

Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University told reporters the speech was “very unfriendly” and “very confrontational,” accusing Washington of double standards in demanding Beijing respect its neighbors while bullying its own – including Canada and Greenland.

Former Senior Col. Zhou Bo, from the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University said that training drills did not mean China would invade Taiwan, saying the government wanted “peaceful reunification.”

Hegseth’s comments came after Trump stoked new trade tensions with China, arguing that Beijing had “violated” a deal to de-escalate tariffs as the two sides appeared deadlocked in negotiations.

The world’s two biggest economies had agreed to temporarily lower eye-watering tariffs they had imposed on each other, pausing them for 90 days.

Reassuring US allies on Saturday, Hegseth said the Indo-Pacific was “America’s priority theater,” pledging to ensure “China cannot dominate us – or our allies and partners.”

He said the United States had stepped up cooperation with allies including the Philippines and Japan, and reiterated Trump’s vow that “China will not invade (Taiwan) on his watch.”

But he called on US partners in the region to ramp up spending on their militaries and “quickly upgrade their own defenses.”

“Asian allies should look to countries in Europe for a newfound example,” Hegseth said, citing pledges by NATO members including Germany to move toward Trump’s spending target of five percent of GDP.

“Deterrence doesn’t come on the cheap.”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, also in Singapore, said the Trump administration’s “tough love” had helped push the continent to beef up its defenses.

“It’s love nonetheless, so it’s better than no love,” Kallas quipped when asked about Hegseth’s speech.