Turkey summons US ambassador over new resolution
Rahshan Saglam
Press TV, Istanbul
Turkey has summoned the US ambassador David Satterfield on Wednesday in response to the vote by the US House of representative to recognize mass killings of Armenians during the World War I as a genocide and called for sanctions against Ankara.
Turkish foreign ministry dismissed the vote as invalid saying it lacks historical and legal bases. In a statement, the ministry said American lawmakers had approved the resolution to "take vengeance" against Turkey over its incursion into Syria.
To enact the sanctions — which target senior Turkish officials and would restrict weapons sales to Turkey — the bill still needs to pass the Senate and be signed off by President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that historians rather than politicians should discuss such matters, adding Turkey has been calling on Armenians to open their archives for research. Erdogan criticized its NATO ally for such a decision.
Many consider such a resolution to further complicate the already tense relation between Turkey and the US.
Ankara rejects the term “genocide” and says 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians, and at least as many Turks perished between 1915 and 1917, in what the Turkish government sees as the “casualties” of World War I. Only a few countries officially recognize the events as genocide, including France and Russia.
“Turkey considers that the bill adopted by US house of representatives is nothing but part of larger smear campaigns to tarnish the image of the country amid the current situation.
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