Turkey on Friday strongly criticized a U.S. Senate resolution which recognized as "genocide" the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the World War I.

The resolution passed by the U.S. Senate is "devoid of historical awareness or any legal base," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement.

"This resolution of the Senate is one of the disgraceful examples of politicizing history. However, those who exploit history by disregarding reality for their political interests will never achieve their aims," said the ministry.

The resolution is a "damaging effort aiming at interrupting the endeavors to develop Turkey-U.S. relations," it added.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, on his Twitter account, called resolution a "political show."

U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution that formally recognizes the mass killings of the Armenians in the early 20th century as "genocide."