If US President Joe Biden recognizes the Armenian Genocide he will anger Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will make it more difficult to improve the already strained relations with Turkey, according to the president of the Eurasia Group.

“It’s another move in the broader pivot from the Middle East, making a lot of Biden’s regional decision making less constrained,” Ian Bremmer said in a tweet, adding that such a move would also increase Ankara’s diplomatic isolation. 

The political scientist also said that, when asked whether the genocide recognition would proceed, a White house advisor told him that this was Biden’s pledge as a presidential candidate and “that’s the policy going forward.”

Talk about a possible recognition of the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottomans from 1915 to 1923 by the US was further fuelled after a letter signed by 38 Senators of both parties was submitted to the president, which called on Biden to recognize the deaths as Genocide. 

In responde to the letter, the White House said last week: “As a presidential candidate, President Biden commemorated the 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children who lost their lives in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. He said then that we must never forget or remain silent about this horrific campaign.”