Turkey summons Washington envoy over sanctions, Armenian 'genocide' resolutions
Ankara has summoned Washington’s ambassador to protest two resolutions passed by the US House of Representatives, which impose sanctions on Turkey over its Syria incursion and recognize the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire a century ago as “genocide.”
The Anadolu news agency cited unnamed sources at the Turkish Foreign Ministry as saying that US Ambassador David Satterfield had been called in on Wednesday to hear Ankara’s criticism of the two resolutions.
Turkey acknowledges that many Armenians were killed by Ottoman forces during World War I, but rejects claims that 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed as part of a planned genocide.
It also argues that such accusations do not take into account the number of Turkish deaths during the conflict.
The US chamber on Tuesday voted 405 to 11 in support of the measure “affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide,” a first for Congress.
Erdogan vows response
Speaking later on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Armenia resolution was “worthless” in the eyes of Ankara, and that Turkey does “not recognize it.”
He said that the Turkish parliament will respond to the new resolutions, without elaborating.
Reacting to the motion, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also rejected the Armenian resolution as an instance of “exploiting history in politics.”
Cavusoglu stated that the measure sought to take revenge for Ankara’s offensive against US-backed Kurdish militants operating in northeastern Syria.
The House also passed a bill later on Tuesday calling for additional sanctions on Turkey over the offensive against the Kurdish militants, which Ankara sees as terrorists linked to autonomy-seeking Kurds at home.
President Donald Trump lifted earlier sanctions slapped on Ankara due to its military incursion after Turkey suspended its military operation against the Kurds.
The removal of sanctions came after Russia and Turkey reached a deal to establish a safe zone along the country’s border with Syria ensuring the withdrawal of Kurdish forces.
Earlier this month, Washington effectively granted Turkey a green light to carry out its long-planned operation against the US-aligned Kurds by announcing the withdrawal of its forces from the region in what was regarded as a major u-turn in US regional policy.
Ankara views the Kurdish militants as terrorists linked to local autonomy-seeking militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
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