Turkey warns US against Armenia 'genocide' bill

Turkey has warned the US against approving a draft bill that recognizes as genocide the massacre of Armenians between 1915 and 1918 during World War I.

The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee is to decide on Thursday whether to recognize as genocide the mass killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during the period.

Such a resolution would damage ties between Ankara and Washington and undermine efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia, Burak Ozugergin, spokesman of Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was quoted as saying on Monday by the semi-official Anatolia News Agency, Xinhua reported.

Describing the issue of "genocide" as a baseless allegation, Ozugergin urged the House panel to "act with a sense of responsibility."

President Barack Obama promised during his election campaign that his administration would recognize the Armenian massacre as genocide.

Last week, however, during a hearing at Congress, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton underlined the importance of continuing rapprochement process between Turkey and Armenia, saying that any step that derail this process should be avoided.

Armenia has pushed for international recognition of the death of Armenians under the Ottoman rule as genocide.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119800§ionid=351020204.