Armenian groups in the United States rejoiced as the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly approved a resolution condemning as genocide the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday 23-22 in support of the resolution following almost six hours of heated debates.
Ankara responded by recalling its newly appointed ambassador to the United States, Namik Tan, for "consultations."
"We condemn this bill that blames the Turkish nation for a crime it did not commit. Our Washington ambassador was invited to Ankara tonight for consultations," Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement posted on his office's website.
Turkey, which has always refused to recognize the killings of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the end of the Ottoman period in 1915 as an act of genocide, earlier warned Washington that this move could jeopardize U.S-Turkish cooperation and set back the talks aimed at opening the border between Turkey and Armenia, which has been closed since 1993 on Ankara's initiative.
A similar vote in the committee was approved by a wider margin in 2007, but the U.S. Bush administration, anxious to retain Turkish cooperation in Iraq, scuttled a full House vote.
"By a vote of 23 to 22 the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee approved [House Resolution] 252, the Armenian Genocide Resolution," the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) said in a statement.
"The committee passed the motion despite a well-funded lobbying effort by the Turkish government supported by major defense corporations doing business with Turkey. Parliamentarians from Turkey and Turkey's ambassador to the United States personally weighed in on the committee and the Obama Administration."
"The truth prevailed today, and the cause of genocide affirmation and prevention has been furthered," AAA Executive Director Bryan Ardouny said.
"We commend the leadership of Chairman Howard Berman and all those who supported the bill's passage, which was introduced by Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA), George Radanovich (R-CA), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL)."
"The truth prevailed in the end," Elizabeth Chouldjian, a spokeswoman for the Armenian National Committee of America, told Armenian television. "The Turkish pressure proved futile."
The resolution was also welcomed by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.
"We highly appreciate the decision by the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the United States House of Representatives to adopt Resolution 252 on the recognition of the Armenian genocide," he said in a statement.
"This is further proof of the devotion of the American people to universal human values and is an important step toward the prevention of crimes against humanity."
On the eve of the vote, the Obama administration urged the committee not to approve the resolution, fearing it could alienate Washington's NATO ally, whose help the White House considers invaluable in solving confrontations in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
A number of countries have recognized the killings in Armenia as the first genocide of the 20th century, including Russia, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece, as well as 42 of the 50 U.S. states. The Vatican, the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches have also denounced the killings as genocide. Uruguay was the first to do so in 1965.
YEREVAN, March 5 (RIA Novosti)
