Israel recognises Armenian genocide, deepening rift with Turkey

The Israeli government on Sunday unanimously approved recognition of the mass killings of Armenians during World War I as genocide, marking a significant policy shift and a move widely viewed as a rebuke to Turkey.

The decision comes as relations between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated sharply following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, when Hamas launched attacks on Israel.

“Historic decision: the Israeli government has unanimously approved Foreign Minister Gideon Saar’s proposal to recognise the Armenian genocide,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The decision will still require approval from the Israeli parliament before becoming final.

Saar said the recognition was necessary to acknowledge historical facts and criticised what he described as continued efforts to deny or downplay the events.

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“The Armenian genocide remains to this day the subject of an institutionalised campaign of denial and minimisation, including a manipulative rewriting of history, mainly by the Turkish government,” Saar said during a cabinet meeting, according to a statement from his office.

He said Israel, as a Jewish state, had a responsibility to formally recognise the events, calling it both a moral and historical obligation.

Shift after years of caution

Successive Israeli governments had avoided formally recognising the Armenian genocide, in part to preserve relations with Turkey, once one of Israel's closest strategic partners in the region.

But since the war in Gaza erupted, Turkey has regularly accused Israel of committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, an accusation Israel strongly denies.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged as one of the fiercest critics of the war, repeatedly comparing Israeli leaders to Nazi officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also hit back at Erdogan, calling him an "anti-semitic dictator who commits genocide against the Kurds".

Turkey has suspended most trade with Israel and become one of Hamas's strongest diplomatic supporters.

"This is not an act of retaliation for the open hostility, along with the terrible rhetoric and the hostile action of Turkey, under Erdogan's leadership, against Israel," Saar said, referring to the recognition.

"The fact that Turkey promotes false narratives against Israel, does not grant it immunity from historical truths."

The Armenians seek international recognition that the mass killings of their people under the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917 amounted to genocide.

They say 1.5 million died, but Turkey strongly denies the accusation of genocide and says that both Armenians and Turks died as a result of the First World War.

It puts the death toll in the hundreds of thousands.

The killings have been recognised as genocide by more than two dozen countries, including the United States, France and Germany.

Former US president Joe Biden recognised the killings as genocide, a position long sought by Armenia.

His successor President Donald Trump has not used the same terminology.

Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic ties, but the two have signalled interest in warming relations in recent years.

With inputs from agencies