Turkey's responsibility is to share historical pain of Armenians: ErdoganApril 24, 2018 - 16:36 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday, April 24 that it was Turkey's responsibility to share the historical pain of Armenian citizens and urged the Armenian community "to not allow others to ignite hatred over past events," Daily Sabah reports. On Tuesday, April 24, Armenians worldwide are commemorating the 103rd anniversary of the Genocide which began in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and continued until 1923. Some three dozen countries, hundreds of local government bodies and international organizations have so far recognized the killings of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as Genocide. Turkey denies to this day. In a message sent to the Istanbul Armenian Church for a commemoration event for Armenians who died in the Genocide, Erdogan offered condolences to the grandchildren of the Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives "during the First World War." "It is Turkey's conscientious and ethical responsibility to share the historical pain of our Armenian citizens. We will continue to share your pain and try to resolve your problems in the future," the statement said. Erdogan also called on the Armenian community not to allow those who are trying to ignite hatred and hostility by distorting "our shared past." The Armenian Genocide The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million. Top stories The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. London’s Armenian community has been left feeling “under attack” after the city’s Genocide monument was vandalised. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. |