Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday that any move by US President Joe Biden to recognize the 1915 mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as a genocide will further harm already strained ties between the NATO allies, Reuters reported.

Asked in an interview with broadcaster Haberturk about whether Biden would recognize these killings as a genocide amid reports he would be the first US president to do so, Cavusoglu said the United States "needs to respect international law."

"Statements that have no legal binding will have no benefit, but they will harm ties," Cavusoglu said. "If the United States wants to worsen ties, the decision is theirs," he added.