Turkey accuses Israel of using Armenian Genocide recognition to cover up Gaza crimes

Turkey accused Israel of using the recognition of the Armenian Genocide to distract from its own actions in Gaza, after Israel's cabinet unanimously voted on Sunday to formally recognize the 1915 massacres as genocide.

In a statement, Turkey's Foreign Ministry wrote, "The Israeli government, which systematically persecutes the Palestinian people in full view of the world and is being tried at the International Court of Justice for genocide against the people of Gaza, aims to cover up its own crimes." The statement added that the decision "reveals the predicament of Netanyahu and his accomplices, who have arrest warrants against them" from the International Criminal Court.

Israel's cabinet approved the proposal in a unanimous vote, with the decision still requiring a Knesset vote to become fully binding. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who spearheaded the move, said immediately after the vote, "Just a short while ago, the Government of Israel approved the resolution I brought before it to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide." Saar called recognition a moral imperative rooted in Jewish identity. "As Jews, and especially as the nation-state of the Jewish people, I believe it is our moral duty to make this decision," he said, adding that the cabinet's resolution explicitly condemns any denial or minimization of the genocide.

Turkey continues to deny the Armenian Genocide and the role of the Ottoman Empire played in the atrocity, referring to the Genocide in the statement as “The events of 1915,” and implying that attempts to recognize it “disregard legal and historical facts.” Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, widely considered by scholars to be the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Israel's move aligns it with 32 UN member states that formally recognize the genocide, including the United States, Germany, and Russia.

For years, Israel avoided formally recognizing the genocide for fear of angering Turkey, once a close ally. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated sharply over the past two decades, accelerating during the wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. The decision is also expected to strain Israel's ties with Azerbaijan, a key regional partner to which Israel has previously supplied weapons during its conflicts with Armenia.