The U.S. Senate resolution that recognised the Armenian genocide was an immoral move said on Saturday the newly-elected Armenian patriarch Bishop Sahak Maşalyan, as it aimed to corner Turkey over the Armenian issue.

“Such things should not be taken seriously,” Maşalyan said in an interview with Turkish daily Sabah. “There is nothing that pertains to us directly that we should get involved with,” he said in relation to the resolution approved by the U.S. Senate on Thursday.

“As Armenians, we are saddened to see the suffering that took place on these lands 100 years ago be used by parliaments of foreign countries as a tool for strategic, economic, political pressure,” the 85th Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul said. “We see it as an inappropriate situation against our ancestors.”

Maşalyan said he had hoped the people in Turkey could resolve the issue themselves and Turkey and Armenia could improve their relations.

“When the two sides cannot talk, third parties, fourth parties, those overseas claim a right to speak,” he said. “All of these are issues we should handle. But since this is postponed, it is used as leverage to pressure Turkey,” he said.

“I do not find this to be very moral,” the patriarch said.