Turkey has decided to minimize the number of invitations to the events devoted to the 100^th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, as the Turkish Jumhurriyet reports, writes 1in.am, according to armeniangenocide100.org.

President of Turkey Recep Tayyib Erdogan had declared that Turkey had invited the leaders of 102 countries to participate in the events dedicated to the Battle of Gallipoli set for April 24^th, but Ankara has decided to send invitations to the leaders of only 77 countries.

Turkey says the reason for not sending invitations to the other 25 countries is the intention to ensure the presence of representatives of the remaining countries. Jumhurriyet also reports that the invitation to the events has created tension between France and Great Britain.

President of France Francois Hollande will be visiting Yerevan, while Prince Charles and his son, Harry will be visiting Dardanelles. The newspaper also mentions that President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will also be visiting Yerevan on April 24^th.

During a joint press conference with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Ankara on March 18, President of Turkey Recep Tayyib Erdogan had announced that Turkey was preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Dardanelles (also known as the Battle of Çanakkale or the Battle of Gallipoli) and had sent official invitations to the leaders of 102 countries to participate in the event to be held in Turkey.

Among Erdogan’s guests was RA President Serzh Sargsyan, who has already declined the invitation to participate in the events dedicated to the Battle of Dardanelles and has mentioned the reasons for declining the invitation.

Thus, with this invitation, Erdogan first and foremost declined the invitation that the RA President had sent to him to visit Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex and commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide together on April 24^th. Erdogan’s decision to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Dardanelles on April 24^th was only linked to the day of remembrance of the victims of the Armenian Genocide since April 24^th is not a date that was significant in the Battle of Dardanelles.