Ankara: Turkey recalled its ambassador to the United States for consultations yesterday after a vote in a US congressional committee branded killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide.
"We called back our ambassador to Washington for consultations. It should not be understood that we have pulled him back permanently. He will be in Ankara for consulations in a few days," a senior Turkish diplomat said. Other Turkish diplomats confirmed the move.
The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved on Wednesday a resolution branding the killings during World War One as genocide - a charge Turkey hotly denies.
Turkey's prime minister will soon ask parliament to authorise a military push into north Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels although analysts say a large Turkish cross-border incursion remains unlikely. Washington fears an offensive could destabilise Iraq.
