Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Luxembourg to Ankara for consultations after the Luxembourg parliament deemed the 1915 killings of Ottoman Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire “genocide,” joining the other countries that use the word, reports.
In a written statement over the Luxembourg parliament’s vote on the 1915 killings on Thursday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkey condemns and strongly rejects the decision by the Luxembourg parliament, which it says was taken by distorting historical facts and law. The ministry said it summoned Luxembourg’s ambassador in Ankara to its offices and conveyed Ankara’s opinion to the ambassador over the vote. Turkey’s Ambassador to Luxembourg Levent Şahinkaya has been recalled back to Ankara for consultations, the statement said.
In the latest in a number of acts by parliaments of different countries, the members of the Luxembourg parliament said in a joint declaration that the 1915 killings of Armenians amount to genocide.
The declaration, parliament members say, is intended to encourage Turkish authorities to face the past.
Luxembourg is the 22nd country to officially recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians as genocide.