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РусскийTurkish MFA: Ankara won’t be participating in the April 24th events in Armenia
Turkey won’t be participating in the Armenian Genocide Commemoration ceremony and won’t be represented at the April 24th events in Armenia.
This is what representative of Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tanju Bilgiç announced, writes PanARMENIAN.Net, citing Turkish presses.
Touching upon the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Gallipoli, the Turkish diplomat mentioned that representatives of several countries have received invitations to attend the event and that the Turkish government will also be holding a “Peace Conference” in Istanbul.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the military operations in Dardanelles (Battle of Gallipoli), President of Turkey Recep Tayyib Erdoğan had sent invitations to the Presidents of different countries to participate in the national events, and among those Presidents was President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. It is mentioned that Ankara is preparing to host the Presidents or Prime Ministers of 102 countries on 23-24 April and has sent them invitations. On the same day, the President of the Republic of Armenia responded with rejection.
The following is particularly mentioned in the President’s response letter: “Turkey continues its traditional policy of denialism. Year by year, “improving” its tools of history distortion, this time Turkey marks the anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli on April 24 for the first time, while it began on March 18, 1915 and lasted till late January, 1916. Furthermore, allies’ land campaign- Gallipoli land battle- took place on April 25, 1915.
What purpose does it serve if not a simple-minded goal to distract the attention of the international community from the events dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide? Whereas, before organizing a commemorative event, Turkey has much more important obligation towards its own people and the entire humanity, namely the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.”
As post-scriptum, Serzh Sargsyan emphasized that a few months ago he had invited the President of Turkey to join Armenians in commemoration of the memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan on the 24th of April. “It is not a common practice for us to be hosted at the invitee’s, without receiving a response to our invitation.”
