Ankara summons US ambassador over Senate resolution on 1915 events

Turkey on Friday summoned the US ambassador over a U.S. Senate resolution that recognizes the 1915 Armenian events as so-called genocide.

Speaking to David Satterfield, Sedat Önal, deputy foreign minister, voiced Turkey's strong criticism of the resolution, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.
Following a similar House move, the U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian claims on the events of 1915.

"We condemn and reject this decision of the US Senate," Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay tweeted on Friday. The resolution is an attempt at "rewriting history based on lies," Oktay added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has several times called on the addresses to open archives and let historians work together; but at every turn, the Armenian side avoided.

The U.S. Senate resolution on Armenian events is not a decision that could be taken seriously, Mustafa Şentop, Turkish parliament speaker also said on Friday.

"The U.S. issue is neither Armenians nor 1915 events. They are playing all their cards for taking up a position on the recent themes negotiated with Turkey," Şentop told the journalists in the parliament.

He called on the U.S. to consider its own history, and said: "Every single year of their history is full of shame."

Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as "genocide" but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia plus international experts to examine the issue.