Turkey has recalled its envoy to Germany in protest against German MPs declaring the 1915 massacre of Armenians during WWI as “genocide”.

Turkey called the vote “an example of ignorance and disrespect”.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people died in the atrocities of 1915. Turkey says the toll was much lower and rejects the term “genocide”.

The vote heightens German-Turkish tensions at a time when Turkey’s help is needed to control migrant arrivals.

The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said the resolution would seriously affect relations with Germany, and that the government would consider further measures in response to the vote.

The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted: “The way to close the dark pages in your own history is not by besmirching the history of other countries with irresponsible and groundless parliamentary decisions,” a clear reference to Germany’s Nazi past.

But the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for calm.

“As expected, Turkey has reacted, and I hope that we will succeed in the next days and weeks to avoid any overreaction,” he told journalists during a visit to Buenos Aires.

Armed riot police were deployed outside the German consulate in Istanbul, near Taksim square, where a protest against the vote was taking place.

 

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36439092