On Saturday, Cher, who is half Armenian, responded to President Joe Biden recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Biden became the first U.S. President to acknowledge the killing of more than a million Armenians by Ottoman Turks more than a century ago as genocide.
“After decades of struggle, the United States government has finally made sure that it is on the right side of history thanks to President Biden,” the 74-year-old icon, who heavily campaigned for Biden during the 2020 presidential election, told TODAY in a statement.
“Despite being a painful reminder of crimes against humanity, people around the world can finally know that the memories of their ancestors will not be forgotten thanks to this formal recognition by the United States,” she said.
Biden’s predecessors have acknowledged the mass killing of Armenians but stopped short of using the term genocide due to Turkish objections.
Cher, who was born Cherilyn Sarkisian, is one of the most famous Armenian-Americans. In 2017, she lent her support to the historical film “The Promise,” a period drama centered around the massacre of Armenians during World War One in what is now Turkey.
