NEWS.am‘s correspondent sat down for an exclusive interview with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Israel to Armenia Shmuel Meirom. The part about the Armenian Genocide has been set aside on armeniangenocide100.org.

NEWS.am: Events dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide will be held on April 24, 2015. Will the Israeli delegation be participating in those events, or not?

Shmuel Meirom: This year the events dedicated to Israel’s independence kick off on April 22^nd and will last all year long. April 24^th is a Friday, and the Week begins for the Jews on Friday evening. That’s why it won’t be easy for Israeli officials to take part in the events scheduled for that day. We think April 24^th is a disputed day for official delegation. I hope Israel sends an official delegation to Yerevan sometime this year.

NEWS.am: President of Turkey Recep Tayyib Erdogan has declared April 24^th as the day marking the 100^th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli. Recently Turkey and Israel made statements against each other. Have Israel’s official representatives been invited to the events, taking into consideration the statements?

Shmuel Meirom: Israel’s official representative won’t be visiting Turkey on April 24^th not only because of the above mentioned reasons, but because Israel hasn’t received such an invitation.