A congressional committee voted Thursday to label as "genocide" the Ottoman-era slaughter of Armenians, shrugging off a last-minute warning from Obama administration officials that it would alienate Turkey, a key U.S. ally. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on the eve of the hearing to express concern, administration officials said. In addition to straining U.S. relations with Turkey, the resolution could also endanger a recent rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia, State Department officials said. But the committee voted 23 to 22 to adopt the nonbinding measure. It calls on President Obama to use the annual presidential statement on the tragedy next month to "characterize the systemic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide." The Turkish government was so infuriated by the vote that it recalled its ambassador for consultations. It warned in a statement that the move "could adversely affect our cooperation on a wide common agenda." – Washington Post