Turkey has reportedly summoned its ambassador to the Vatican after Pope Francis went on record to term the mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman rule in World War I "genocide."
The statement made by the pope at a service in Rome earlier on Sunday has elicited Turkey's ire as it has always maintained that the killings were part of a civil conflict triggered by World War I, reported the BBC.
Armenia and many historians have argued that about 1.5 million people were killed by Ottoman forces in 1915, a claim that has been rejected by Turkey.
The row has continued to strain relations between Armenia and Turkey.