ANKARA
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement in regards to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s invitation for the commemoration of the Battle of Canakkale.
In mid-Jan, the Turkish President sent invitation letters to more than 100 leaders, including the Armenian President Sargsyan, to participate the commemoration of the Battle of Canakkale on April 24.
President Sargsyan reportedly denounced President Erdogan's invitation as a "short-sighted" attempt to overshadow the hundredth anniversary of the events of 1915 to be held on the same date, according to ArmeniaNow.com.
“We condemn this style, which is unbecoming of a neighboring country leader or the representative of the ancient Armenian nation,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said that it is not surprising that radical Armenian circles referred to this historical issue with outdated rhetoric. “What is surprising is the similar attitude taken by those who are responsible for managing the state,” the ministry said.
The ministry said that in the Battle of Canakkale all the people composing the Ottoman Empire, including Armenians, experienced deep anguish and that the Turkish president’s invitation to his counterpart was also to commemorate the Armenians who died in that battle.
The statement recalled the historical “condolence message” that Turkey sent to Armenia on April. 23, 2014, and said that Turkey knows and shares the sorrow of Armenian people.
The foreign ministry invited Armenian authorities to pursue common sense, and shove aside any attempts to turn 2015 into a year of hatred against Turkey and Turks.
During the First World War, the Ottoman Empire approved a deportation law for Armenians, amid their uprising with the help of the invading Russian army. As a result, an unknown number of people died in civil strife.
Armenian diaspora and state of Armenia term the incidents as "genocide" and ask for compensation, whereas Ankara says while Armenians died during deportation many Turks also died due to the attacks by Armenian gangs all around Anatolia.
