Turkey warns US on WWI issue

Turkey is warning the United States that there will be negative diplomatic consequences if it doesn't impede a US resolution branding the killing of Armenians during World War I as genocide.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says his country would assess what measures it would take, and calls the resolution a "big mistake." He also says chances of its parliament ratifying peace protocols with Armenia were jeopardised by a U.S. congressional panel vote for the resolution. Minutes after the vote, Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Washington.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks. Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the death toll has been inflated and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.