Sweden regrets parliament vote on Armenian 'genocide'

Sweden's foreign minister deplored Saturday a vote by his country's parliament branding the events of 1915 as genocide as counterproductive.

"It's regrettable because the politisation of history serves no useful purpose," Carl Bildt told journalists on the fringes of a meeting of European foreign ministers in Finland.

"We're interested in the business of reconciliation and decisions like that tend to raise tensions rather than lower tensions," he said.

"And I'm afraid of the effect it might have on the normalisation between Armenia and Turkey, we Europeans and Americans have been investing a lot of energy into what is very fragile."

Going against the government's advice, the Swedish parliament voted by a narrow margin to recognize the "genocide of Armenians" during the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, further infuriating Ankara by mentioning also other Christian communities as victims of "genocide" in Ottoman hands.

Ankara quickly recalled its ambassador and cancelled a visit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Sweden.

The Swedish vote came just days after a similar vote by a US Congressional panel.

"We have to move on," Bildt said.

The Swedish minister late Friday met Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoğlu in a bid to soothe ruffled feathers.

"The position of the Swedish parliament was shocking for us because parliaments should not decide for history, this is unacceptable," the Turkish minister said.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed in a systematic campaign of extermination during World War I as the Ottoman Empire fell apart.

Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label, arguing that between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks were killed in civil strife when Armenians rose up for independence and sided with invading Russian forces.

But much to Ankara's ire, parliaments in several countries have recognized the killings as genocide.