Washington: Biden’s statement won’t affect the “sovereign immunity” of Turkey

The US State Department announced that President Joe Biden’s description of the events of 1915 as “genocide” against Armenians would not affect Turkey’s “sovereign immunity” before American courts.

This came in a written statement on Friday, which was sent by a State Department spokesperson to describe what Biden’s statement made on April 24 might legally mean.

The spokesman said, “The president’s recent statement was not intended to affect the sovereign immunity of Turkey before the civil jurisdiction of American courts, and this situation is regulated by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.”

On Saturday, Biden described the events of 1915 as a “genocide” against Armenians, in contravention of the established tradition of his predecessors, presidents of the United States, to refrain from using the term.

In response to the move, the Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed that Biden does not have the legal right to judge historical issues and his statements about the alleged “genocide” are worthless.

Turkey stresses that it is impossible to launch “genocide” on these events, but rather describes it as a “tragedy” for both sides.

It calls for dealing with the file away from the political conflict, and resolving the issue with a “fair memory” perspective.

Which means abandoning a one-sided view of history, and each side understands what the other has lived, and mutual respect for each party’s past memory.