Turkey Summons US Ambassador After Recognition of Armenian Genocide

*Photo: AA

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US Ambassador to Turkey David Satterfield has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the US House of Representatives passed bills on the Armenian Genocide and sanctions against Turkey, the ministry has said in a written statement.

"Concerning the resolution on 1915 incidents that lacks historical and legal basis and the bill that envisages sanctions on our country related to the Operation Peace Spring, US Ambassador in Ankara David Satterfield has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the ministry said.

It was stated to the Ambassador that the decisions that have been taken are not valid in the eyes of Turkey's government and people and does not accord with the strategic partnership between the two countries, according to the statement.

The US House yesterday (October 29) passed both bills with a large majority, each receiving more than 400 votes.

The House first approved a bill to impose a series of sanctions on Turkey over its military operation in northern Syria against the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG).

The resolution on the Armenian Genocide was approved shortly after the sanctions bill. It states that the following three should be accepted as the US policy:

"To commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance;

"To reject efforts to enlist, engage, or otherwise associate the United States Government with denial of the Armenian Genocide or any other genocide;

"To encourage education and public understanding of the facts of the Armenian Genocide, including the United States' role in the humanitarian relief effort, and the relevance of the Armenian Genocide to modern-day crimes against humanity." (PT/VK)