The escalation of threats against the Azerbaijani community living in the United States by Armenian extremists is a source of concern for Ankara, Turkey's Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on Tuesday. Armenian extremists in the U.S. are encouraged by distortions of history, he added.
"Distorting history further encourages Armenian extremists, who threaten violence against Azerbaijanis in the U.S.," he said on Twitter, sharing a video showing a group of Armenian extremists hanging a mannequin of an "Azerbaijani."
Voicing Turkey's concerns, Altun underlined the country's solidarity with Azerbaijan against such threats and urged "authorities to act."
The incident came after President Joe Biden called the events of 1915 "genocide" on Saturday, breaking with years of U.S. precedent.
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.
Altun also noted that Hampig Sassounian, the "Armenian terrorist who killed Turkey's consul general in Los Angeles in 1982," was released from prison last month.
"We warned that impunity would only serve to embolden the next generation of extremists," he added.
He added that the Martyred Diplomats Exhibition which began on April 25 near the Presidential Complex in Turkey's capital Ankara would be open through May 1.
The exhibition is dedicated to the Turkish diplomats who continued to carry out their duties despite the threats of attack by Armenian terrorist groups between 1973 and 1984 and lost their lives in the process.
