News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Turkey Calls Its Envoy Home After 'Genocide' Vote

In the wake of a House committee vote to label as genocide the deaths of more than 1 million Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks a century ago, Turkey's ambassador to the U.S. is leaving.

According to the Associated Press, Ankara has recalled him for consultations. A spokesman for the Turkish foreign ministry says the ambassador will be gone for a week or 10 days — time to discuss the matter.

In Turkey, reaction to Wednesday's action in the House has been swift and negative. The country's president called it "unacceptable" and "not worthy of the respect of the Turkish people."

The State Department said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was expected to talk with Turkish leaders Thursday.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.