Ankara reacted with intense fury toward Jerusalem on Sunday after the Israeli Cabinet passed a unanimous resolution to acknowledge the Ottoman-era mass murders of Armenians during the First World War as an act of genocide, a determination Turkey labeled a cynical political ploy.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry fired back with a stinging public rebuke, claiming that the vote was orchestrated to distract the international community from Israel's active military operations in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli government, which has systematically persecuted the Palestinian people before the eyes of the entire world and is being tried at the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide against the people of Gaza, is seeking to cover up its own crimes through the political decision it has adopted regarding the events of 1915," the Ministry said, as quoted by AFP.
“Turkey will continue to work resolutely to bring an end to Israel's expansionist and destabilizing policies in the region," the statement added.
Turkey -- the Ottoman Empire's successor state -- strongly rejects that the massacres, imprisonment and forced deportation of Armenians from 1915 amounted to a genocide.
Last August, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly recognized the Armenian Genocide for the first time. Turkey responded with anger, rejecting his remarks as politically motivated and historically unfounded.
The US has avoided using the word "genocide" to describe the events due to concerns over damaging relations with Turkey, a key regional ally. However, former President Joe Biden in 2021 officially used the term “genocide" when describing the Ottoman Empire's persecution of the Armenian community, sparking outrage from Ankara.
Sunday’s decision by Israel comes amid ongoing tensions with Turkey. The two countries were close to reconciliation just before the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, but since that time, Turkish officials, and foremost President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have repeatedly criticized Israel.
In March of last year, Erdogan blasted Israel and described it as a "terror state" after it launched surprise strikes on terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip.
Several months later, the Turkish President claimed that Netanyahu’s government represents the most significant threat to Middle East security.