Turkey expresses hope US administration will intervene to stop genocide resolution

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Turkey seeks to avert genocide vote in US Congress

ANKARA, Turkey — The state-run news agency is quoting Turkey’s foreign minister as expressing hope that President Barack Obama’s administration will prevent a congressional panel from recognizing the World War I killings of Armenians as genocide.

The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee is set to consider the issue Thursday.

The Anatolia news agency quotes Ahmet Davutoglu as saying he hopes the administration will give the committee “the necessary message.” Davutoglu was speaking to Turkish journalists in Egypt on Wednesday.

Past U.S. administrations have defeated similar resolutions through public cajoling about U.S. national interests.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were victims of genocide. Turkey denies that.