President Biden's statement on 1915 events has no practical effect - former Turkish FM

By Trend

In terms of international law, President Biden's mentioning the word "genocide" on the remembrance day of 1915 events has no practical effect, Yashar Yakish, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Member of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center said, Trend reports.

He noted that is because the main international instrument that covers this subject is the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Repression of the Crime of Genocide. This Convention provides that there are two authorities that are entitled to determine whether the crime of genocide is committed:

- an authorized international criminal court; or

- the courts of the country where the crime of genocide is committed.

“The case of 1915 events cannot be taken to an international court, because a law (or a convention) cannot be applied to an event that took place before that law (or convention) was enacted. Therefore, the 1948 Convention cannot be applied 1915 events that took place 35 years before it was enacted,” he said.

US President Joseph Biden called the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire “genocide" in his statement of Apr. 24.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey's predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, allegedly carried out so-called "genocide" against the Armenians living in Anatolia in 1915.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated previously that there was no genocide against Armenians in the history of Turkey and the events of 1915 need investigation.

Turkey called on Armenia to open the archives of 1915 and create a joint commission to investigate the events. But Armenia has not yet responded to Turkey's proposal.