Turkey calls Germany's genocide resolution an 'historic mistake'

Turkey has warned that a German parliamentary resolution that recognises Ottoman-era killings of Armenians as genocide will "seriously affect" bilateral ties between the two countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued the warning on Thursday after the German parliament's recognition of First World War killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide would.

"The resolution adopted by the German parliament will seriously affect relations between Germany and Turkey," Erdogan said, confirming that Ankara has recalled its ambassador to Germany for consultations.

Germany's charge d'affaires in the capital has also been summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry later in the day, a spokesperson for German embassy in Ankara told AFP.

"The German parliament's recognition of 'distorted and groundless' allegations as 'genocide' is an historic mistake," Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said earlier on his official Twitter account, calling the resolution "null and void".

AKP spokesperson Yasin Aktay told a local TV station: "The German parliament's decision is not a friendly stance. It has severely damaged ties."  

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "There is a lot that binds Germany to Turkey and even if we have a difference of opinion on an individual matter, the breadth of our links, our friendship, our strategic ties, is great," the BBC reported.

Ahead of Thursday's vote, Yildirim had said the resolution would amount "to a real test of the friendship" between the two nations.

"Some nations that we consider friends, when they are experiencing trouble in domestic policy, attempt to divert attention from it," he said at a meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP). "This resolution is an example of that."

He stopped short of threatening Germany with political and economic retaliation, but added "3.5 million Turks live in Germany and actively contribute to the economy", warning lawmakers that they should take the votes of Turkish Germans into consideration. 

Put forward by the ruling left-right coalition and the opposition Greens, the resolution was entitled "Remembrance and commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in 1915 and 1916".  It carries the contentious word throughout the text.

Prior to the vote German MP reported they had come under pressure from Turks, includiunbg threatening and abusive emails, German ARD news reported.

Armenia has long sought international recognition of the killings as "genocide", but Ankara rejects the use of the term to describe the First World War-era killings, arguing instead that it was a collective tragedy in which equal numbers of Turks and Armenians died.

However More than 20 nations, including France and Russia, as well as Pope Francis, have recognised the 1915 killings as genocide and the German motion was welcomed by Armenia's foreign minister Edward Nalbandian who said it was a "valuable contribution" to the "international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide."

Suraj Sharma contributed to this story.