U.S. ambassador in Turkey summoned over House votes on sanctions, Armenia
The U.S. ambassador in Turkey was summoned on Wednesday after the House of Representatives voted to recognize mass killings of Armenians a century ago as genocide and called for sanctions over Turkey’s incursion in Syria, Anadolu news agency said.
Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One but denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute genocide.
The state-owned Anadolu agency said ambassador David Satterfield was summoned to the Foreign Ministry.
The issue is highly sensitive and comes at a time of difficult bilateral relations with Turkey.
Presidential hopeful Joe Biden said the vote honoured the memory of victims.
But Turkey’s foreign minister said the vote was revenge for its military offensive in northern Syria.
Via Reuters
