Ankara (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the United States "for consultations" and condemns the resolution of a USA Parliamentary Commission, which qualifies as genocide the massacre of Armenians during the First World War. Between Washington and Ankara it is a diplomatic crisis and not even the intervention of the Obama administration, asking the resolution not be approved, has served to tone down the rhetoric.
In a statement, the government in Ankara condemns "this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it did not commit." The document goes on to warn that "after this incident, our ambassador in Washington, Namik Tan, has been recalled to Ankara for consultations." Turkey does not exclude the possibility of retaliation against the United States in the near future.
The origin of the confrontation between the United States and Turkey is yesterday’s adoption of a resolution by a majority of 23 votes in favour and 22 against, by the Foreign Affairs Committee of U.S. House of Representatives. It qualifies as "genocide" the massacre of Armenians carried out by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917.
The Obama administration had intervened on the eve of the vote, asking the Commission not to approve the document so as not to poison relations with Turkey. Just under a year ago, the U.S. president recalled the massacre of the Armenian people, but had carefully avoided using the word "genocide", disliked by the Turks. The resolution, in contrast, asks the U.S. president to "define precisely the deliberate and systematic extermination of a million and 500 thousand Armenians," which is nothing if not a "genocide."
Ankara does not deny to having committed "atrocities" during the Great War. However, they were part of the conflict and not a "systematic attempt" to annihilate the Armenian people of Christian faith. The government in Yerevan has instead appreciated the vote of the U.S. Commission, calling it "an important step towards the prevention of crimes against humanity."
