White House takes down Vance post calling WWI massacre of Armenians ‘genocide’

US and NATO ally Turkey denies genocide of Armenian population in 1915; Vance aide claims description of post on VP’s visit to memorial in Yerevan was error

The White House on Tuesday deleted a post from US Vice President JD Vance’s account that commemorated massacres of Armenians as a “genocide,” saying the message, likely to irk US-allied Turkey, was posted in error.

Vance, who was on a two-day trip to Armenia, visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan during the first-ever visit by a US vice president to the South Caucasus republic.

There, he and his wife, Usha Vance, participated in a ceremonial laying of a wreath of carnations, chrysanthemums, and roses at the site, which honors the 1.5 million Armenians who lost their lives in the final years of the Turkish-led Ottoman Empire.

Vance’s official account on X later described the visit as designed “to honor the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide.”

After that post was deleted, a Vance aide who declined to be named said the message was posted in error by staff who were not part of the traveling delegation.

“This is an account managed by staff that primarily exists to share photos and videos of the Vice President’s activities,” said a spokesperson for Vance, referring to the vice president’s own comments, which did not include the phrase “genocide.”

Trump’s ties to Turkey

Turkey is a NATO ally of the United States, and President Tayyip Erdogan has maintained close ties with President Donald Trump, including supporting the US diplomatic initiative on Gaza.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War I, but contests the figures and has long denied that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide.

Although the US Congress and Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, have both recognized the 1915 massacres as a genocide, Trump avoided that language in his own statement on the killings last year.

The social media deletion came after Vance’s statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day drew criticism for not mentioning Jews.

It also came four days after the White House defended, and then deleted, a racist depiction of former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as apes posted to Trump’s Truth Social account. Trump later told reporters that he had not watched the entire video before a White House aide posted it to his account.

Asked by a reporter whether his visit to the memorial was intended to recognize a genocide, Vance said, “Obviously, it’s a very terrible thing that happened little over 100 years ago, and something that was just very, very important to them culturally.

“So I thought out of a sign of respect, both for the victims, but also for the Armenian government that’s been a very important partner for us in the region, to Prime Minister [Nikol] Pashinyan, I wanted to go and pay a visit and pay my respects.”

Vance’s visit was aimed at promoting agreements the Trump administration struck with Armenia and Azerbaijan to build towards peace after nearly 40 years of war between the Caucasus rivals. Azerbaijan seized the region of Karabakh in a 2023 lightning offensive, ending three decades of rule by Armenian separatists.

Trump has presented his diplomatic efforts as among the chief accomplishments of his time in office.

In Armenia, Vance signed a deal with Pashinyan that could pave the way for the US to build a nuclear power plant there.

On Tuesday, he traveled to Azerbaijan and signed a strategic partnership deal encompassing economic and security cooperation, as Washington seeks to expand its influence in a region where Russia was once the main power broker.

In Baku, Vance met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev before the two signed the agreement.

Vance said the agreement “will formalise that partnership and make it very clear that the United States–Azerbaijan relationship is one that will stick.”

The United States will “ship some new boats to Azerbaijan to help you with territorial waters protection,” he told Aliyev as they made statements to the press.

Aliyev said relations between the two countries “are entering a new phase,” including in defense cooperation, “through equipment sales.”

“We will continue cooperation in the field of security and will work together on counterterrorism operations.”

Before the meeting with Aliyev, Vance said the issue of Armenian separatist leaders imprisoned in Azerbaijan was “certainly going to come up” in talks with Azerbaijani leaders.

Last week, a military court in Baku handed lengthy sentences, including life jail terms, to Armenian separatist leaders in a war crimes trial.

More than 20 Armenian human rights groups sent an open letter urging Vance to help secure the release of Armenian detainees in Azerbaijani jails. Karabakh refugees held a rally in Yerevan with the same demand.

The US State Department said the visit would “advance President Donald Trump’s peace efforts and promote the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).”

The TRIPP is a proposed road-and-rail corridor designed to link Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave, cut off from the mainland by Armenian territory, while integrating the region into a wider east-west trade route connecting Central Asia and the Caspian basin to Europe.

Washington has presented the project as a confidence-building measure following decades of conflict between the two countries.