A US congressional panel has described the killing of Armenians by Turkish forces during World War I as genocide, despite White House objections.
The resolution was narrowly approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Turkey, a key US ally, responded by recalling its ambassador in Washington for consultations. It has fiercely opposed the non-binding resolution.
The resolution calls on President Barack Obama to ensure that US foreign policy reflects an understanding of the "genocide" and to label the World War I killings as such in his annual statement on the issue.
Within minutes the Turkish government issued a statement condemning "this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it has not committed".
A Turkish parliamentary delegation had gone to Washington to try to persuade committee members to reject the resolution.
Turkey accepts that atrocities were committed but argues they were part of the war and that there was no systematic attempt to destroy the Christian Armenian people.
The Armenian government welcomed the vote, calling it "an important step towards the prevention of crimes against humanity".
In 2007, a similar resolution passed the committee stage, but was shelved before a House vote after pressure from the George W Bush administration.
Armenia wants Turkey to recognise the killings as an act of genocide, but successive Turkish governments have refused to do so.
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, when they were deported en masse from eastern Anatolia by the Ottoman Empire. They were killed by troops or died from starvation and disease.
Armenians have campaigned for the killings to be recognised internationally as genocide - and more than 20 countries have done so.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8550765.stm
The resolution was narrowly approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Turkey, a key US ally, responded by recalling its ambassador in Washington for consultations. It has fiercely opposed the non-binding resolution.
The resolution calls on President Barack Obama to ensure that US foreign policy reflects an understanding of the "genocide" and to label the World War I killings as such in his annual statement on the issue.
Within minutes the Turkish government issued a statement condemning "this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it has not committed".
A Turkish parliamentary delegation had gone to Washington to try to persuade committee members to reject the resolution.
Turkey accepts that atrocities were committed but argues they were part of the war and that there was no systematic attempt to destroy the Christian Armenian people.
The Armenian government welcomed the vote, calling it "an important step towards the prevention of crimes against humanity".
In 2007, a similar resolution passed the committee stage, but was shelved before a House vote after pressure from the George W Bush administration.
Armenia wants Turkey to recognise the killings as an act of genocide, but successive Turkish governments have refused to do so.
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, when they were deported en masse from eastern Anatolia by the Ottoman Empire. They were killed by troops or died from starvation and disease.
Armenians have campaigned for the killings to be recognised internationally as genocide - and more than 20 countries have done so.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8550765.stm
