Turkey Pulls Ambassador from Luxembourg

ANKARA (AFP) — Turkey on Thursday recalled its envoy to Luxembourg to Ankara for consultations after parliament recognized the mass killings of Armenians in World War I as genocide.

The recall of the envoy is the latest such move by Ankara after it withdrew its ambassadors to the Vatican and Austria over the controversy last month.

“We condemn and strongly reject the unfair resolution the Luxembourg parliament has adopted by distorting the historical facts and the law,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said it had summoned the Luxembourg ambassador to Ankara to protest the resolution, which it said was “far from understanding” the role of parliaments in such issues.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s ambassador to Luxembourg Levent Sahinkaya “has been recalled to Ankara for consultations,” it added.

Turkey was on a diplomatic offensive in the weeks leading up to the 100th anniversary of the start of the killings of April 24 to ensure the minimum recognition by parliaments.

It was infuriated by the use of the word genocide by Pope Francis and the resolution by the parliament of Austria.

However, US President Barack Obama stopped short of using the word genocide when he addressed the issue, to the relief of Turkey.

Ahead of the vote, Sahinkaya had already warned Luxembourg deputies in a letter that passing such a motion “would not serve the excellence of our relations.”