Congress adopts a resolution accusing Turkey of "exterminating" Armenians and Ankara retaliating

The US House of Representatives has passed a resolution to officially recognize the so-called "Armenian genocide," a move that angered Turkey amid already strained relations between the two countries.

It was applauded when the House passed a 405 to 11 resolution, which confirms US recognition of the so-called "Armenian genocide," the first time such a vote has come to Congress after several previous attempts.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was "honored" to join her colleagues in "commemorating one of the biggest atrocities of the 20th century: the systematic killing of more than 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children by the Ottoman Empire."

Armenians see what they say is mass murder of their people between 1915 and 1917 amounting to genocide, a claim that only about 30 countries recognize and is strongly denied by Turkey.

The bill was introduced by House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, in April.

Turkish response
In response to the move, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described the US bill as a "shameful decision by people who exploit history in politics," adding that it was "null and void" for Turkey.

The Turkish ambassador to Washington, Sardar Kılıç, wrote on his official account on Twitter that "such decisions do not harm any honorable history, especially those decisions came under pressure lobby known known impartially, and far from historical facts that require action Search process in the archives of the countries concerned.

Armenia and Armenian lobbies around the world generally demand that Turkey recognize what happened during the 1915 displacement as "genocide" and thus pay compensation.

According to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the term “genocide” means the total or partial destruction of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

Turkey stresses that the events of 1915 cannot be labeled "genocide", but describes it as a "tragedy" for both sides. Each side understands what each other has lived through, and mutual respect for each other's memory.

Turkey proposes to carry out research on the events of 1915 in the archives of other countries, in addition to the archives of Turkey and Armenia, and the establishment of a joint historical committee includes historians from Turkey and Armenia and international experts.