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Turkey recalls ambassador to Brazil seeking clarity over "genocide"

Xinhua, June 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkish Foreign Ministry said on late Monday it had recalled its ambassador to Brazil for consultation over its recognizing the massacre of Armenians as "genocide."

The move came after the Brazilian Senate passed legislation recognizing the massacre of Armenians during World War One in Turkey as "genocide."

"We condemn the Resolution of the Brazilian Senate on the events of 1915, which distorts the historical truths and ignores the law, and consider it as an example of irresponsibility," the foreign ministry said in a press release.

In May, Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Luxembourg after the Luxembourg Parliament passed a resolution, recognizing the mass killings of Armenians in 1915, qualifying them as genocide.

Turkey summoned its ambassador to the Vatican in April after Pope Francis referred to the killings of Armenians during World War I as "the first genocide of the 20th century."

Muslim Turkey accepts that Christian Armenians died during the upheaval of World War One, but rejects declarations or legislation by foreign governments that classify the deaths as genocide. Endit