PUTIN TO ATTEND 'GENOCIDE' COMMEMORATION IN ARMENIA ON APR. 24
Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 12 2015
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Armenian President Serzh
Sarksyan are seen in this file photo. (Photo: RIA Novosti via Cihan)
March 12, 2015, Thursday/ 17:25:40/ TODAYSZAMAN.COM
Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to the Armenian capital of
Yerevan to attend ceremonies marking the centennial of what Armenians
claim is a genocide of Ottoman Armenians in eastern Anatolia during
the time of World War I.
A statement from the Kremlin press office said Putin and Armenian
President Serzh Sarksyan discussed the issue during a telephone
conversation. Putin told the Armenian leader that he will attend the
Apr. 24 ceremonies, and he invited Sarksyan to ceremonies marking
the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Germany by Soviet troops during
the World War II on May 9, the private news agency Cihan reported.
"Yes, he will fly to Yerevan," French news agency Agence France-Presse
(AFP) quoted Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Turkey has also announced plans to host World War I events on Apr. 24,
commemorating the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915 and 1916. Turkish
officials have said invitations were sent to more than 100 countries
to attend the events.
The planned events that coincide with the annual commemoration of
the alleged genocide in Yerevan have sparked new diplomatic tensions
between Turkey and Armenia, which was also invited. Sarksyan swiftly
rejected the invitation in an open letter addressed to President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, saying that the invitation itself shows that Turkey
continues to pursue its "denial policy" of the Armenian "genocide."
Yerevan marks the mass killings of Armenians every April 24, and often
uses the anniversary as an opportunity to lobby Western countries to
brand the killings as genocide. Ankara denies claims that the events
of 1915 amounted to genocide, arguing that both Turks and Armenians
were killed when Armenians revolted against the Ottoman Empire during
World War I in collaboration with the Russian army, which was at the
time invading eastern Anatolia.
http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_putin-to-attend-genocide-commemoration-in-armenia-on-apr-24_375058.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 12 2015
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Armenian President Serzh
Sarksyan are seen in this file photo. (Photo: RIA Novosti via Cihan)
March 12, 2015, Thursday/ 17:25:40/ TODAYSZAMAN.COM
Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to the Armenian capital of
Yerevan to attend ceremonies marking the centennial of what Armenians
claim is a genocide of Ottoman Armenians in eastern Anatolia during
the time of World War I.
A statement from the Kremlin press office said Putin and Armenian
President Serzh Sarksyan discussed the issue during a telephone
conversation. Putin told the Armenian leader that he will attend the
Apr. 24 ceremonies, and he invited Sarksyan to ceremonies marking
the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Germany by Soviet troops during
the World War II on May 9, the private news agency Cihan reported.
"Yes, he will fly to Yerevan," French news agency Agence France-Presse
(AFP) quoted Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Turkey has also announced plans to host World War I events on Apr. 24,
commemorating the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915 and 1916. Turkish
officials have said invitations were sent to more than 100 countries
to attend the events.
The planned events that coincide with the annual commemoration of
the alleged genocide in Yerevan have sparked new diplomatic tensions
between Turkey and Armenia, which was also invited. Sarksyan swiftly
rejected the invitation in an open letter addressed to President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, saying that the invitation itself shows that Turkey
continues to pursue its "denial policy" of the Armenian "genocide."
Yerevan marks the mass killings of Armenians every April 24, and often
uses the anniversary as an opportunity to lobby Western countries to
brand the killings as genocide. Ankara denies claims that the events
of 1915 amounted to genocide, arguing that both Turks and Armenians
were killed when Armenians revolted against the Ottoman Empire during
World War I in collaboration with the Russian army, which was at the
time invading eastern Anatolia.
http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_putin-to-attend-genocide-commemoration-in-armenia-on-apr-24_375058.html