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Turkey condemns Belgium over decision on 1915 Armenian killings

Xinhua, July 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkey condemned on Friday a decision by the Belgian parliament to recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

"This decision has distorted the historical facts and disregarded the law," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Belgium's recognition of the Anatolian Armenian deaths during the World War I as genocide will affect profoundly the bilateral relations, the statement warned.

The statement called on the Belgian lawmakers to pay attention to the serious challenges Europe is facing, including the economic crisis, rather than sparing time for this issue.

Ankara has already recalled its ambassador from the Vatican, as well as from Austria, Brazil and Luxembourg over the same issue.

On Thursday, the Belgian parliament approved unanimously a resolution to recognize the killings of the Armenians in 1915 as genocide.

The 1915 mass killings of Ottoman Armenians during the final days of the empire remain a controversial issue, with Ankara rejecting the term "genocide".

Armenians claim that Ottoman forces killed more than 1 million Armenians. However, Turkey advocates that the killings took place during an inter-communal strife during the World War I. Endit