Turkey says U.S. recognition of Armenian genocides has no legal basis

Turkey on Saturday slammed U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to recognise the 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as a genocide, saying the statement had no legal basis and would "open a deep" wound in bilateral ties.

"This statement of the US, which distorts the historical facts, will never be accepted in the conscience of the Turkish people, and will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship," Turkey's foreign ministry said, adding it rejected and denounced the statement "in the strongest terms".