Turkey reacted angrily Thursday to a U.S. House committee vote to condemn the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during World War I as genocide, recalling its ambassador from Washington and threatening to withdraw its support for the Iraq war.
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In uncharacteristically strong language, President Abdullah Gul criticized the vote by the House Foreign Relations Committee in a statement to the semi-official Anatolian News Agency and warned that the decision could work against the United States.
“Unfortunately, some politicians in the United States have once more dismissed calls for common sense and made an attempt to sacrifice big issues for minor domestic political games,” Gul said.
The House vote comes at a particularly inopportune time. Washington has called on Turkey to show restraint as the Turkish military mobilizes on the border with Iraq, threatening an incursion against Kurdish insurgents. On Thursday, Turkish warplanes were reported to be flying close to the border but not crossing it.
The committee vote in the House, though non-binding and largely symbolic, rebuffed the White House and earlier warnings from Turkey’s government that such a vote would strain relations with the United States.
Turkish officials and lawmakers warned that if the resolution was approved by the full House, they would reconsider supporting the U.S. war effort in Iraq, which includes permission to ship essential supplies through Turkey from Incirlik air base in southern Turkey.
About 1.5 million Armenians died beginning in 1915 as the Ottoman Empire sought to drive Armenians out of eastern Turkey.
Turks have denied the designation. They contend that the deaths, along with thousands of others, were a result of the war that ended with the creation of modern Turkey in 1923.