2021-04-26 11:57:10

Biden Recognizes Armenian Genocide of 1915, Despite Decades of Lobbying & Denialism by Turkey

As President Joe Biden makes history by explicitly describing the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as a “genocide,” Democracy Now! speaks with Peter Balakian, Pulitzer Prize-winning Armenian American poet and professor at Colgate University.

On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Empire began a systematic, premeditated campaign targeting the Armenian people, an unarmed Christian minority living under Turkish rule. More than a million Armenians were exterminated through direct killing, starvation, torture and forced death marches. Another million Armenian people fled into permanent exile. “It’s an important statement,” responds Balakian to Biden’s decision.

“The plan was systematic,” he says of the genocide. “It involved the implementation of parliamentary acts, military intervention, mobilization of killing squads in order to arrest and deport every Armenian family from Turkey.”

Democracy Now! produces a daily, global, independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. lOur reporting includes breaking daily news headlines and in-depth interviews with people on the front lines of the world’s most pressing issues. 

On DN!, you’ll hear a diversity of voices speaking for themselves, providing a unique and sometimes provocative perspective on global events.

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#FreeSpeechTV is one of the last standing national, independent news networks committed to advancing progressive social change. 

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1915 Massacre of Armenians Amy Goodman Democracy Now! Free Speech TV Genocide Joe Biden Ottoman Turks Peter Balakian Turkey

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