Turkey summons US ambassador, condemns House resolutions

The US Ambassador David Satterfield was summoned by Turkish authorities over US recognition of Armenian genocide and new sanctions against some senior Turkish officials. (File/AFP)

• The Turkish ministry said it rejects US recognition of the Armenian genocide
• US lawmakers have been critical of Turkey’s military operation against SDF in Syria

ISTANBUL: Turkey’s foreign ministry said it summoned US Ambassador David Satterfield on Wednesday over two resolutions passed by the US House of Representatives.
The Turkish ministry said in a statement that it rejects the nonbinding House resolution to recognize the century-old mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide. The bill passed 405-11.
In another statement, the ministry said it condemned a bipartisan bill to sanction senior Turkish officials and its army for Turkey’s incursion into northeastern Syria, which passed 403-16.
Both bills, passed Tuesday, were a sign of further deterioration in Turkish-American relations, which have been strained over multiple issues, especially US support for Syrian Kurdish fighters considered terrorists by Ankara.
American lawmakers have been critical of Ankara’s operation against Kurdish forces along the Turkish-Syrian border.
Turkey’s cross-border offensive, which Ankara says is necessary for its national security, began on Oct. 9 after months of Turkish threats and a sudden decision by US President Donald Trump to withdraw troops and abandon Kurdish allies against the Daesh group. Trump’s move was widely criticized by both the Republicans and the Democrats.
Turkey and allied Syrian fighters paused operations with two separate cease-fires brokered by the US and Russia to allow the Kurdish fighters to withdraw 30 kilometers away from the Turkish border.
The foreign ministry said both bills were fashioned for “domestic consumption” in the US and would undermine relations. It said lawmakers critical of Turkey’s Syria offensive would be wrong to take “vengeance” through the Armenian genocide bill.
Turkey disputes the description of mass deportations and killings of Ottoman Armenians in 1915 as genocide and has lobbied against its recognition in the US for years. It has instead called for a joint committee of historians to investigate the events.
“Undoubtedly, this resolution will negatively affect the image of the US before the public opinion of Turkey,” the ministry said.