Ankara invites US Ambassador to Armenia Resolution
After official recognition of the massacres of Armenians in the First World War as genocide by the US, Ankara has invited the US ambassador. The US diplomat David Satterfield has been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry for a „resolution that lacks any historical or legal basis,“ ministry representatives said today. Another reason for the measure was therefore also imposed after the Turkish military offensive in northern Syria US sanctions against Ankara.
The US House of Representatives passed by a clear majority the day before a resolution that officially classifies the massacres of Armenians between 1915 and 1917 as genocide.
Turkey criticizes „meaningless political move“
Turkey, which rejects the term genocide, responded with anger to the passing of the resolution. The Turkish Foreign Ministry spoke of a „meaningless political move“ aimed at the „Armenian lobby and anti-Turkey groups“. The House decision endangers relations between Turkey and the US in times of great danger to international and regional security.
Similarly, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: „This step has absolutely no value and we do not recognize it anyway,“ said Erdogan. „Nevertheless, we regret that this slander against our country was accepted in a parliament of a country. What is this attitude? „Erdogan further emphasized that genocide is strictly prohibited in the Islamic faith. „Those who expose a genocide are looking for a culprit,“ he said. He considered the resolution „the biggest insult to our people“. That was a step that was „taken solely for domestic reasons,“ he said.
In 2001, France was the first major European country to classify the massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Austria did so in 2015. Turkey then withdrew its ambassador from Vienna for a short time. Germany followed in 2016, triggering a serious diplomatic crisis with Turkey.
