ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s president says he was “highly saddened” by U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to mark as genocide the mass deportations and massacres of Armenians in the early 20th century Ottoman Empire, calling it baseless and unjust. Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Biden’s decision undermined Turkish-American relations but also expressed hope they would discuss that and other issues during a first face-to-face meeting in years at the June NATO summit and “open the doors of a new period.” Otherwise, Erdogan said, Turkey would have to take necessary steps but did not elaborate. Earlier Monday, a small group of demonstrators gathered outside the American consulate in Istanbul to protest Biden’s decision.
