ANKARA

Turkey entirely rejects US President Joe Biden’s remarks on the events of 1915 events, which are based solely on populism, said the nation’s foreign minister on Saturday.

“Words cannot change or rewrite history. Turkey has nothing to learn from anybody about its own past,” Mevlut Cavusoglu wrote in English on Twitter.

Saying that political opportunism is the greatest betrayal of peace and justice, he stressed that Turkey totally rejects Biden’s statement.

Earlier Saturday, Biden called the events of 1915 a "genocide," breaking American presidents' long-held tradition of refraining from using the term.

Turkish stance on events of 1915

Turkey’s position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of these incidents as “genocide,” describing them as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia as well as international experts to tackle the issue.

In 2014, then-Prime Minister Erdogan expressed condolences to the descendants of Armenians who lost their lives in the events of 1915.