Turkey vehemently criticized Congress on June 27 over a bill demanding that the country return confiscated Christian churches.

Legislation requiring the State Department to report on the status of “stolen, confiscated or otherwise unreturned” churches and other Christian properties in Turkey and northern Cyprus sailed through the House Foreign Affairs Committee on a voice-vote June 26. Turkey wasted no time in denouncing what it called the bill’s “groundless criticism, false information and baseless accusations” and accused lawmakers of caving to ethnic lobbies.

“Attempts by anti-Turkish circles in the US Congress, driven by domestic political considerations, to push such unconstructive and baseless initiatives are unacceptable,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried on the website of the Turkish Embassy in Washington.

The harsh statement raises concerns that the legislation could complicate relations with Turkey at a time when the United States is relying on its NATO ally to defuse the crisis in Syria and contain the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).