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Akbar Novruz

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On April 24, US President Donald Trump declined to label the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, instead using the Armenian phrase “Meds Yeghern” (Great Crime). The decision breaks from the policy of former President Joe Biden, who had officially recognised the events as genocide during his term, Azernews reports.

In his official statement, Trump said:

"Today, we remember Meds Yeghern and the beautiful souls who suffered in one of the most terrible tragedies of the 20th century. Beginning in 1915, during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, one and a half million Armenians were exiled and marched to their deaths… We join once again with the Great Armenian Community in America and around the world in mourning the many who perished."

While Trump also avoided the term "genocide" during his first term, his latest remarks have sparked criticism from prominent Armenian-American groups. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) said Trump had "shamefully withdrawn from America’s recognition and commemoration of the Armenian Genocide." The Armenian Assembly of America added that the statement "does not represent a change in US policy" since both Congress and US courts have already recognised the genocide.

In a parallel move, the European Union also softened its language. The EU Monitoring Mission on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border initially used the term “Armenian genocide” in a social media post but quickly replaced it with “Armenian victims of 1915–1923.” Other EU institutions likewise avoided the term in official statements.

Interestingly, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also did not explicitly condemn the perpetrators of the 1915 events. He instead used the phrase “massacres and mass deportations” and referred to the tragedy as “Meds Yeghern.”

The softened rhetoric by both Trump and the EU comes amid heightened geopolitical sensitivities in the South Caucasus, including ongoing peace efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and a reassessment of language that could impact diplomatic relations with Türkiye, a key regional player that strongly opposes the term "genocide."