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The thorny issue of the Armenian “genocide” figured in U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s first visit to Armenia this week. The Armenian lobby in the United States was irked when Vance deleted a social media post about visiting an Armenian memorial.
Vance went to a memorial in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, on Monday and posted about the visit on social media before deleting the message. His press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, subsequently shared photos from the memorial visit without referencing the so-called genocide. Asked about the deleted post, a U.S. official said it was shared in error by staff not part of the delegation. “This is an account managed by staff that primarily exists to share photos and videos of the vice president’s activities,” a spokesperson for Vance said in a statement. When asked, the White House referred to its “message that was issued on Armenian Remembrance Day,” where it labeled the 1915 events as “one of the worst disasters of the 20th century.” “There’s been no change of policy at this time,” said spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), the largest Armenian lobby organization in the U.S., criticized Vance’s office for removing the reference in its reposted message.
The organization leads efforts advocating for official U.S. recognition of Armenian claims regarding the events of 1915 and potential sanctions against Türkiye, representing one of the most prominent anti-Turkish groups in the U.S. Türkiye objects to the presentation of the 1915 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 Türkiye and Armenia, as well as international experts, to tackle the issue.
