Erdogan calls on Biden to reverse ‘wrong step’ on Armenian declaration

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called on U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to immediately reverse his declaration that 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide, a move he said was upsetting and diminished bilateral ties.

In his first comments since the White House statement on Saturday, Erdogan said “the wrong step” would hinder ties and advised the United States to “look in the mirror.”

Yet the Turkish president added he expected to “open a new door” in ties and discuss all agreements with President Biden at a NATO summit in June.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ezgi Erkoyun; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Dominic Evans)