Turkey-US relations strained after Armenian 'genocide' bill passed

Istanbul - Turkey called on the US Friday to correct a "historical mistake" after a Congressional committee passed a resolution that recognizes the mass murders of Armenians during World War I as a "genocide.""We expect and hope that the US Congress will correct this historical mistake soon," Turkish media Friday quoted Turkish Speaker of Parliament Mehmet Ali Sahin as saying.

Armenians contend that up to 1.5 million of their people were systematically killed by the Ottoman Turks during World War I.

Turkey has long denied the genocide claim, saying the number of Armenians killed is much lower and that the deaths were the result of violent turbulence that also affected other groups at the time.

Ankara also recalled its ambassador to Washington after the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives passed the resolution in a 23-22 vote on Thursday.

"We condemn this resolution accusing Turkey of a crime that it had not committed," the Turkish Prime Ministry said in a written statement issued soon after the vote.

"Our Ambassador to Washington Namik Tan was recalled tonight to Ankara for consultations after the development,"the statement said.

Ankara had warned that the bill's passing could lead to a rupture in relations with Washington and could harm an already endangered reconciliation process between Turkey and Armenia.

"Turkish-US relations are experiencing their most successful period in history," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday. "I hope that they will not be damaged by such initiatives."

The non-binding resolution calls on US policy and President Barack Obama to formally refer to the World War I mass killings as a "genocide." Speaker Nancy Pelosi must now decide whether the bill passed by the committee will be sent to a full vote in the House.

The US has approximately 1 million citizens of Armenian descent.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312595,turkey-us-relations-strained-after-armenian-genocide-bill-passed.html.