US ambassador to Ankara summoned to Turkish Foreign Ministry
The US 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 US House of Representatives
voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday for a resolution calling on President Donald
Trump to impose sanctions and other restrictions on Turkey and Turkish
officials over its offensive in northern Syria.
The House also voted overwhelmingly
on Tuesday in favor of a resolution recognizing the mass killings of Armenians
a century ago as a genocide, a symbolic but historic vote likely to inflame
tensions with Turkey.
