Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A narrowly passed committee measure that recommends the United States recognize the 1915 killings of ethnic Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as genocide will likely not get a full vote in the House of Representatives , according to a senior State Department official . The official said Friday that the State Department has an understanding with House leadership on the issue , and , `` We believe it will stop where it is . '' The measure passed 23-22 in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday . In response , Turkey ordered its ambassador to the United States home for `` consultation , '' Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin told CNN . The nearly century-old issue has placed both Congress and the White House in the middle of a political minefield , balancing moral considerations with both domestic and international concerns . The Obama administration had urged the House Foreign Affairs Committee not to pass the resolution , warning it could damage U.S.-Turkish relations and jeopardize efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and its neighbor Armenia . The two do not share formal diplomatic relations . Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters Friday that `` the Obama administration strongly opposes the resolution that was passed by only one vote in the House committee , and we 'll work very hard to make sure it does not go to the House floor . '' State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters ahead of the vote that the United States was concerned about the impact the vote could potentially have on U.S.-Turkish relations . Turkey , among other things , is considered a strong American ally and is home to a critical U.S. air base . Armenia 's foreign minister , Edward Nalbandian , said his country highly appreciates the committee 's vote . `` This is another proof of the devotion of the American people to universal human values and is an important step toward the prevention of the crimes against humanity , '' he said . The Armenian National Committee of America said the passage of the measure shows that `` Turkey does n't get a vote or a veto in the U.S. Congress . '' Turkish officials vehemently oppose the measure . `` Turkey is saddened by the bill that has been accepted in the Foreign Affairs Committee today -LSB- Thursday -RSB- , '' Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan 's Web site said . `` We condemn this bill that accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it has not committed . The people who support this bill have adopted a wrong and unfair attitude , ignoring the differences of opinion of expert historians and historical facts . The bill has been prepared with tangible historical mistakes regarding the 1915 incidents and with a completely subjective attitude , '' the statement said . A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman recently issued a public warning that passage of a resolution labeling the World War I killings as genocide `` would harm U.S.-Turkish relations . '' Turkish officials have also warned that passing the resolution could hurt a historic agreement aimed at normalizing relations between Turkey and Armenia , and efforts to reopen their long-closed border . `` It would harm the normalization process , '' spokesman Ozugergin said . `` And it is wrong . The substance is also wrong . '' Turkey officially denies a genocide took place in the last days of the crumbling Ottoman Empire . Ankara instead says that Muslim Turks and Christian Armenians massacred each other on the killing fields of World War I. Historians have extensively documented the Ottoman military 's forced death-march of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians into the Syrian desert in 1915 . Every April 24 , Armenians worldwide observe a remembrance day for those killed . The killings decimated the Armenian population in what is modern-day eastern Turkey . The government in the Armenian capital of Yerevan and influential Armenian diaspora groups have been urging countries around the world to formally label the events of 1915 `` genocide . '' `` I do n't pretend to be a professional historian , '' Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman , D-California , said ahead of Thursday 's vote . `` But the vast majority of experts ... agree that the tragic massacres of the Armenians constitute genocide . '' Rep. Gary Ackerman , D-New York , acknowledged that Turkey is an `` important , strong -LSB- and -RSB- necessary ally of the United States . '' But `` overriding all of that , '' he said , `` is the issue of justice and the issue of history . ... History has to be righted . '' Opponents of the resolution had expressed sympathy toward the victims of the 1915 killings , but said current political concerns took priority . Rep. Mike Pence , R-Indiana , praised the committee 's `` sincere effort '' to illuminate `` a dark chapter in history , '' but said the committee should not pass the measure . `` I do not minimize the horror that took place , '' he said . But `` now is not the time for this committee of the American Congress to take up the measure that is now before us . '' Turkey is a strategic partner of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan , he said . Furthermore , the logistical support provided by the U.S. base in Incirlik , Turkey , is a `` staple '' of American power in the Middle East , he asserted . `` In a time of war , '' the United States should not `` take the relationship -LSB- with Turkey -RSB- for granted . '' Rep. Gerry Connolly , D-Virginia , argued that Congress should not do anything to undermine the Turkish government , which is a `` secular alternative model for the Muslim world . '' `` I hate this vote , '' he said . `` The United States has a great deal at stake in the Turkish relationship . '' Congress should n't `` pontificate on this issue '' and then pretend `` there will be no consequences , '' he warned . Last year , the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia signed a series of protocols aimed at establishing embassies in Ankara and Yerevan . The U.S. - , European - and Russian-backed agreement also called for the creation of an international committee of historians to examine archives and `` restore mutual confidence between the two nations . '' In October 2009 , Armenia 's president traveled to Turkey to attend a historic soccer match between the two countries ' national teams . Despite this round of `` football diplomacy , '' the diplomatic overture between the two capitals has slowed in recent months . A previous resolution recognizing the Armenian `` genocide '' was approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee In 2007 . The Turkish government protested by temporarily recalling its ambassador from Washington . The resolution did not make it to the House floor . CNN 's Ivan Watson , Elise Labott and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report .