ISLAMABAD – Turkey rejects a resolution passed by the U.S. House ofRepresentatives on Armenian claims, the country’s Foreign Ministry saidWednesday.
“We reject the resolution H.R. 296 entitled ‘Affirming the United StatesRecord on the Armenian Genocide’ that is adopted today by the U.S. House ofRepresentatives as expressing the sense of the latter,” the ministry saidin a statement, referring to the events of 1915.
Earlier, the House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing theso-called Armenian genocide, with lawmakers voting 405-11.
“The resolution, which has apparently been drafted and issued for domesticconsumption, is devoid of any historical or legal basis,” the ministry said.
Noting that the resolution is not legally binding and a “meaninglesspolitical step,” the ministry said it is only addressed to the Armenianlobby and anti-Turkey groups.
“Those who felt defeated for not being able to forestall Operation PeaceSpring would be highly mistaken should they think they could take vengeancethis way,” it said, referring to Turkey’s anti-terror operation in northernSyria that was launched on Oct. 9.
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It added that the Turkish government and people consider the resolution“totally null and void.”
“The resolution as it stands is both against U.S. and international law asit is an incrimination against the principles defined in the 1948Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,” itsaid, noting the absence of any verdict from a competent court announcingthe 1915 events as a crime of genocide.
“On the contrary, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a milestonejudgment which stipulates that the 1915 events constitute a legitimatesubject for debate,” it noted.
